A California congressman invoked first lady Melania Trump’s name in a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, as tensions escalate over aggressive ICE operations that have swept through Los Angeles and other cities this year.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who represents California’s 34th Congressional District including downtown Los Angeles and Koreatown, posted a pointed message on Monday, November 3, 2025, expressing disbelief at the president’s assertion that immigration raids have not gone far enough. According to Gomez, the congressman wrote: “Haven’t gone far enough?? Any further, and ICE will be deporting Melania…”
The comment referenced the first lady’s own immigration history, as Melania Trump became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006 after arriving in the country from Slovenia in the 1990s. Gomez’s district has been at the center of controversial immigration enforcement actions throughout 2025, with facilities in his constituency becoming focal points for detention operations.
The congressman’s criticism followed months of escalating concerns about ICE operations in Los Angeles. In June 2025, Gomez issued a statement condemning disturbing reports that immigrants appearing for routine check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Roybal Federal Building downtown were being detained and held in basement rooms under what he described as inhumane conditions. Some detainees were reportedly held overnight without food or water.
Gomez described the situation at the time as unconscionable, noting that law-abiding asylum seekers, many with children, were being detained after complying with ICE requirements. He emphasized that these were families who had followed proper procedures, filed necessary paperwork and appeared on time for their appointments, yet were treated as if they had violated the law simply for seeking asylum.
One attorney reported that her client was held without food or water from 2 p.m. through the following day, while his wife and two children waited more than 12 hours without water or explanation. Overcrowding became so severe that women and children were forced to sleep outside in tents, while lights in the building shut off at 5 p.m., leaving families sitting in darkness.
The congressman also highlighted the case of a 20-year-old woman held alone after her mother was detained in transit. The family had been checking in with ICE for years, with their asylum process based on documented abuse. They were days away from a court date when they were detained and separated, their future thrown into uncertainty.
By August 2025, Gomez joined fellow Democratic Congress members Brad Sherman and Judy Chu in finally gaining access to the ICE processing center known as B-18 in the basement of the downtown facility. After two months of requests and a federal lawsuit, the politicians entered the facility on Monday, August 12, 2025, but described a deliberately sanitized scene.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the facility, designed to hold up to 335 migrants, contained just two people in one holding room during the congressional visit. Gomez accused the government of deliberately showing them nothing, making it impossible for members of Congress to conduct proper oversight.
Chu described concrete floors with no beds in the nine holding rooms, each equipped with two toilets. While ICE detainees were supposed to be held for only 72 hours, she reported hearing stories of people kept there for 12 days. Some detainees received only one meal a day, and the food pantry at B-18 appeared scanty during the inspection.
Sergio Perez, executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, visited detainee Narciso Barranco in June. Barranco, a Mexican national whose three sons serve as U.S. Marines, was held for three days after being punched and pepper-sprayed during his arrest. Perez reported that Barranco did not receive medical attention and found rooms holding 30 to 70 people, with some forced to sleep standing up due to overcrowding.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin disputed the characterization of conditions, denying that individuals fail to receive medical care and questioning claims about extended detention periods. She responded to the politicians’ complaints by suggesting they were now objecting to facilities being too clean, and maintained that ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons.
Gomez’s advocacy extended beyond Los Angeles. In September 2025, he formally protested to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem over an immigration raid targeting Korean workers at a Hyundai-LG Energy Solution electric vehicle and battery plant construction site in Georgia. In a September 11 letter, the congressman demanded transparency on the legal basis for the operation and sought clarification on search warrant conditions, the timing of immigration status checks, and whether lawful residents or U.S. citizens were detained.
Gomez gave DHS until September 26 to respond and warned that failure to comply could trigger a congressional hearing. As the son of immigrants himself, the congressman has maintained a consistent stance advocating for immigrant families throughout his time representing California’s 34th District.
Sources:
https://gomez.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4459
https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos/california-lawmaker-took-exception-president-193046185.html
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-08-12/california-congressmembers
https://gomez.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5676
