Rep. Garcia, Leader Jeffries, and Rep. Menefee Join Houston Workers to Highlight How ICE's Reign of Terror is Worsening the Affordability Crisis

October 26, 2026 Press Release HOUSTON, TX — Today , Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-09), Congressman Christian Menefee (TX-18), and SEIU Texas President Elsa Flores held a press conference following a closed-door roundtable with Houston workers, business owners, and community advocates on how the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement is hurting Houston’s economy and driving fear across communities. Held at SEIU Texas headquarters in Houston’s East End, the roundtable brought together representatives from SEIU Texas, UNITE HERE, Workers Defense Project, FIEL Houston, and local hotel and restaurant owners. Participants discussed how fear of ICE enforcement is keeping workers from their jobs, discouraging customers from visiting businesses, and putting additional financial strain on working families. “Make no mistake, this is an affordability issue,” said Congresswoman Garcia. “When workers are afraid to show up for work, families lose paychecks. When customers are afraid to leave their homes, restaurants and small businesses lose money. And when construction workers are afraid to go to a job site, homes will not get built. We can enforce our immigration system while treating people with dignity and respect.” “Everything has become more expensive here in America because of Donald Trump’s failed and toxic policies. We were promised by this administration that they were going to focus on violent felons. They targeted law-abiding immigrant families. They lied to the American people,” said Democratic Leader Jeffries . “Taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for everyday Americans, not to brutalize and kill them. House Democrats are committed to ending ICE’s reign of terror and bringing comprehensive change to our immigration system.” “These are Houstonians. These are people who belong to our community as much as anybody else,” said Congressman Menefee. “We’re going to fight alongside Congresswoman Garcia every single day in Congress to make sure that they know that immigration in this country should recognize people’s dignity and humanity, and not brutalize them every single day in the streets.” “We now have a workforce that is fearful of going to work every day, because we all know that ICE has been picking up workers, people who are working-class people,” said SEIU Texas President Elsa Flores. “They’re not picking up people who are criminals in this country, which is what this administration has said they were going to do. We need ICE out of our communities.” The full press conference can be found HERE . Issues : Economy and Labor Immigration