Adriano Espaillat says immigration should still be a winning issue for Democrats

On Friday, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant elected to Congress, flew to Mexico to visit a family the Trump administration had abruptly deported. On Sunday, he was back in New York City making a highly anticipated endorsement of Andrew Cuomo for mayor. 

Such is the life of the Northern Manhattan power-broker, who has found himself at the center of national immigration discourse as newly elevated chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and personal target of right-wing anti-immigrant vitriol. 

Espaillat’s trip to Monterrey, Mexico with Texas Reps. Joaquin Castro and Sylvia Garcia followed the detention and deportation of a family with several U.S. citizen kids earlier this year. In early February, the family – including their 11-year-old daughter with a rare form of brain cancer and their 15-year-old son with a heart condition – were deported after stopping at an immigration checkpoint while rushing from their home in Rio Grade Valley to the Texas Children’s Hospital. The family (who is being referred to under the pseudonym Hernández for privacy reasons) was en-route for an emergency medical checkup for 10-year-old Sara (also a pseudonym) at the time, according to NBC News. While the parents were undocumented, four of their five children accompanying them are U.S. citizens. 

Espaillat was formerly a vocal supporter of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has continued to maintain a personal relationship with Trump despite his anti-immigrant rhetoric. “Of course, the relationship with President Trump, particularly as it pertains to immigration, is very troubling,” Espaillat told City & State.

City & State spoke with Espaillat about the Mexico trip, how he’s advocating for immigrant children, navigating in-fighting within the Manhattan Democratic Party and his decision to endorse Cuomo for mayor after calling on him to resign in 2021. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

You recently traveled to Mexico with several of your fellow Congressional Hispanic Caucus members to visit the Hernández family. What were you hoping to accomplish?

We've seen how Trump's mass deportation plan is not just about finding undocumented people who’ve committed and been found guilty of a crime – it really goes further than that into legal residents and even U.S. citizens. We have been getting reports of U.S. citizen kids that have been sent back to their parents’ homelands. 

We were able to work with an attorney that’s representing the first of such families that we found out about, the Hernández family, and met them in Monterrey, Mexico with their attorney. We also met with some of the organizations that are providing services there, the mayor, and the U.S. consulate. The Hernández family is together, but the town they are staying in is a rural setting, making it even more difficult because they don’t have the kind of support they need.

Our goal primarily is to save Sara’s life. That means two things. No. 1, to see how we can bring her back to the states and get the parents a humanitarian parole so they can continue getting services at the hospital she goes to in Texas. And if that doesn’t work out, to make sure Sara gets the kind of services she needs in Mexico. Granted, they won’t be the same because she was in a pretty good hospital that specializes in treating children with cancer, brain cancers. The second is we are going to continue to track these cases of U.S. born kids being deported. There’s information that there may be more cases coming up.

How did everything go?

It went well. Sara was very articulate. The whole family, I think, told their story in a very human way that moved all of us. Even the kids were all giving their opinions. It’s just a sad story, and one that I think America needs to know. The White House has peddled this idea that they're deporting violent felons. I don't think anybody's against deporting somebody that committed a horrible crime who was found guilty, but there needs to be due process.

You mentioned one of the goals for the visit was to start better tracking children who’ve been deported. Can you expand on that? 

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is very much concerned about the kids, as we were last time, in 2018, when my office had to reunite a family where the mom was in Arizona and the children were here in New York City. The caucus has an inclination to be very protective of U.S. born children that have been wrongfully deported, and it's important that we accurately record these cases. We must know how many there are, where they were deported to, and if there are any specific conditions impacting them.

You and Mayor Eric Adams have been quite close in the past. You were supportive of him not only early in his tenure, but also as he navigated his legal troubles. How do you feel about Adams’ relationship with Trump and his reluctance to criticize the president as his administration targets many immigrant New Yorkers? 

I've been respectful of the mayor. I told him personally that I was concerned about his stance on immigration the last time we spoke. Of course, the relationship with President Trump, particularly as it pertains to immigration, is very troubling because Trump has already stated that he's going to have a mass deportation process on steroids here. Even people that are legal residents will get caught up in it without having done anything wrong and find themselves deported or pulled away from their families. I will combat that at every corner of the city, precisely because of cases like Sara. At the end of the day, a family that is split is a weak family – one that will probably have to rely on government help or some type of safety net in New York City. Having the family together, makes it stronger. I am very concerned with anybody, even from my own party, who shares those views. 

What did the mayor say when you reached out to him to share your concerns? 

We didn’t get into it too much. I mean he told me he understood and we left it at that. I want to say though that there is a mistaken opinion amongst even some Democrats that immigration should be a taboo issue. That we shouldn’t talk about it because it polls badly. Well guess what? Trump is underwater on immigration right now, the last poll I saw said by about 45%. I deeply think America will change its mind as they did last time when they heard the tapes of those little kids crying in the middle of the night, asking for their moms and dads. 

Any mother in America will be moved if they hear Sara’s story. I remember when it was very popular to be pro-immigration. I think we will be there again. I know everybody's of a mind frame that it's got to be pocketbook issues and inflation and the cost of products at the supermarket – yes, all of that is important, but we should not shy away from talking about immigration, particularly as it pertains to kids.

Do you think that there is a shift underway within the Democratic Party on immigration? 

Trump could probably continue to be very popular if people don't understand the gravity of this matter and how he's scapegoating a whole entire segment of people. These are teachers, nurses, small business owners, homeowners, first responders – they should be given a shot to get that green card. Farm workers are not showing up to work because they fear they could get deported, which is interconnected with inflation and the cost of food.

My story is a very personal one. My family overstayed our tourist visa and now I’m a member of Congress. This country has such great potential, but the Trump administration’s immigration plan is atrophying the possibility of these kids becoming productive members of this country. Sara could maybe be a brain surgeon. Her brother could be a financial analyst. They all have great potential.

Over the weekend, you backed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary along with the group of business and civic leaders you convened called the Coalition for Community Concerns. Can you share a bit about this decision? I recall you were one of the elected officials who’d called on him to resign in 2021 amid his sexual harassment allegations. 

I've walked the neighborhood of my district with him and I feel very strongly that my constituencies are supportive of him. We went to a restaurant to have lunch and the place was so packed that there was a line coming outside. There was a long endorsement process in which we interviewed all the mayoral candidates and narrowed it down to five with a collective decision by the group to support Andrew Cuomo. But going back to the restaurant, it was so crowded that I suggested that we should go down the street so we could better hear each other. He says, ‘no, that’s where I want to go.” So we go inside, and the minute he walked in, the place exploded like I haven’t seen in decades. The same thing happened at Melba’s in Harlem and in the Bronx for a Mother’s Day event. 

I got elected to be the voice of the people I represent and I think they are overwhelmingly with him.

There’s been a long history of tension in the Manhattan Democratic Party between yourself and party boss Keith Wright. Things came to a head recently with a vote in late March scheduled by Wright to potentially expel you and several of your allies over allegations that you’d tried to cheat in a 2023 election for a party position, Politico New York reported. All the motions to reprimand you failed. Where do things stand? What needs to happen for the party to move forward? 

It’s a big mistake for the party to have in-fighting at a time where we should seriously be concentrating as one unit, one group united, to face the aggressive Trump agenda – particularly with the Latino community, who shifted a little bit more towards Trump in this election. We should be convincing them that we – the Democratic Party is the right choice for them and their families. That only happens if we work together. It’s a big mistake to engage in actions that may be motivated by partisan politics or a grudge. That’s not what we should be doing. I think that we can coexist even with our political differences and for the important things, find the maturity to come together. I think we can accomplish that. I was very encouraged to see that even some folks who are not necessarily my allies in the Manhattan Democratic Party were voting in favor of me because they felt it was a wrong allegation.

Have you and Keith Wright had any conversations in the wake of the vote? Is there a path for reconciliation between you two? 

I feel that there's a path for reconciliation. We haven't spoken, but I plan to do that. I plan to reach out. That's the right thing to do. That's the adult thing to do. Even if we can't agree on some things, because, you know, life is not that organized. He and I are going to have disagreements, but hopefully on the important things that disproportionately impact our communities, we’ve got to find a consensus.

You previously supported Bronx City Council Member Pierina Sanchez. She's now getting a primary challenge from former City Council Member Fernando Cabrera, and one of your own staffers, Bryan Hodge Vazquez, is trying to unseat her as well. Who are you backing in that race this time around?

I haven’t yet endorsed in that race. I have a former intern who jumped in that race. I know Fernando and Pierina I supported last time and like, so this is like, can I get a break here? We will see what happens there.