Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) delivered some of her sharpest criticism yet of President Trump’s newly intensified immigration crackdown.
Speaking during a wide-ranging interview on MS Now’s The Weekend, she condemned federal raids, denaturalization threats, and what she described as “state-sanctioned dehumanization.” She also confirmed she is edging closer to launching a U.S. Senate campaign in Texas.
The conversation came just days after Trump vowed on Truth Social to “permanently pause migration from all third world countries” and to “denaturalize” people he claims don’t align with “Western civilization.” The State Department has since halted asylum decisions and paused visa processing for Afghans—moves that landed like shockwaves across immigrant communities.
Crockett, who spent last week in Los Angeles for a field hearing on the fallout from federal raids, said the administration’s rhetoric is fueling chaos and fear.
“People are not sending their kids to school. They’re not showing up to work,” she said. “He wants people to hide in the shadows. This can’t be America—yet in Trump’s America, this is exactly what he wants.”
Stories of Detention and Abuse
Crockett recounted testimony from the Los Angeles hearing, including cases she said exposed systemic mistreatment:
- A U.S. citizen detained despite repeatedly telling ICE agents about her status.
- A 21-year-old diabetic woman taken into custody during a routine appointment and allegedly denied medication for days.
- Detainees in some facilities so severely deprived of water, Crockett said, that “they literally were having to drink their own urine.”
“They contribute to the fabric of this country,” she said of immigrants. “They are what make this country great—not your thuggish ICE agents.”
She also pointed to a ProPublica investigation showing more than 600 immigrant children placed in federal shelters this year—many after routine court appointments or bystanders swept up during targeted raids. The average stay in custody has stretched to nearly six months.
“This is the ‘pro-life’ party,” Crockett said. “They care about life until it shows up at their front door.”
The Politics Behind the Crackdown
Crockett argued that Trump’s talk of denaturalization is more about intimidation than legal authority.
“He can’t wave a wand and denaturalize people,” she said. “He’s trying to instill fear—fear that keeps people off the streets, out of schools, and away from work.”
She went further, warning that the administration’s targeting of marginalized groups—immigrants, LGBTQ communities, women—follows a familiar and dangerous historical pattern.
“If you study anything about the Nazis, that is where it all starts: dehumanization,” she said. “Even if you’re not an immigrant, you have to understand that the dehumanization will eventually come for you.”
A Senate Decision Approaches
Pressed on whether she plans to run for U.S. Senate in 2025, Crockett acknowledged what many Texas Democrats have quietly speculated for weeks.
“The data says that I can win,” she said. “I am closer to yes than I am to no.”
But the congresswoman stressed that a statewide race—across a state of 30 million people—will require a coordinated ticket, financial muscle, and strategic discipline.
“It’s a hundred-million-dollar race,” she noted. “It can’t be about one person carrying the load. We need a slate that can bring out Black and brown voters, the same coalition that won on November 4.”
Polling from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University shows Crockett leading the Democratic field among Black and Latino voters, the backbone of any viable Democratic coalition in the state.
For now, Crockett says she is continuing conversations with potential down-ballot candidates to determine whether the pieces can come together.
“If I’m going to ask people to believe in Texas,” she said, “I need to be able to look them in the eye and say exactly how we win.”
Crockett’s decision, once expected by Thanksgiving, appears imminent—arriving at a moment when the national immigration battle is reshaping political lines and lifting her profile far beyond Texas.
