Last week on The Show, Rep. Yassamin Ansari, the only Iranian-American Democrat in Congress, talked about her view of the war — and the nuances of it for folks whose parents fled the oppressive regime there, like hers.
She also talked about a measure she has introduced that would provide Temporary Protected Status and work authorization for the more than 12,000 Iranian students in the U.S. legally, who are now facing uncertain futures after the Trump administration paused U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processing.
“You know, my own dad came here as a student all these years ago. And in one generation, his daughter became a congresswoman. So, we’ve already invested in these people. They’ve gone to our universities. They’ve been working here. Like, it would be such a shame to let that talent be lost,” Ansari said.
The Show spoke to her more about immigration, as well as the Democrats’ message heading into the midterm elections.
Full conversation
LAUREN GILGER: I want to ask you a question quickly about what you’ve seen inside the detention center here in Mesa, because you and some other congressmembers went and did like an unannounced visit and saw some of the conditions.
I think one of the stories that maybe has been under-told as we’ve been watching this immigration crackdown around the country is that there are record numbers of people being held in detention and with, you know, varying levels of, of, you know, of length of stays, etc. But most of them, we know, have not committed any crime.
What did you see? What are your concerns there? How do you think you get the public to look at those places in a real way and say, “Wait a minute, this is in my backyard?”
YASSAMIN ANSARI: Well, first of all, there are somewhere around 60,000 people being held in detention centers across the country. There are two major private prison companies, CoreCivic and GEO Group, that are making record profits based off of all of this.
And I really want to emphasize that I think what’s happening with these detention centers is part of a much larger corruption story with this administration. These companies gave a lot of money to make sure that Trump won.
Their CEOs and their chairmen of their boards have said things like, “This will be an unprecedented business opportunity for us.” And it has been. They have made so much money. Republicans just voted to give another $70 billion to ICE. So that brings the total to over $250 billion as healthcare is being ripped away from people.
The conditions are abysmal. These are like horrific prisons. I’ve described them as concentration camps. I have talked to dozens of people inside these centers — women, men. Women have described everything from being given used underwear that has resulted in infections.
There’s a severe medical neglect going on. I have a constituent with cancer inside the Eloy Detention Center, who I witnessed vomit blood one of my visits there, and took two hours for somebody to come try to even attempt to feign like they want to be helpful.
I’ve talked to people who’ve described what’s happening as psychological and physical torture. A lot of racism, abuse, lack of clean drinking water. The night we showed up unannounced the first time at Mesa Gateway, where there’s an ICE holding facility — this is the place, it’s the last stop for people, right about when they’re going to get on their deportation flights.
They’re supposed to be, I think, around 150 people max. There’s like concrete cells inside this holding facility. Each room was at like triple capacity that night. People were crammed in these concrete cells body-to-body, desperate to talk to us. ICE had made very clear we’re not allowed to talk to anyone, but they couldn’t really stop it because people were just like through the window, eager to talk to us, showing us how many people there were.
One of them was saying they had a fever. I was trying to get them to bring medical stuff. There are no medical staff at this place. It’s awful. Like, it is disgusting what is happening with our taxpayer dollars. And as you mentioned, there are no criminal records here. Ninety percent of people, more than 90% in ICE detention, don’t have criminal records.
People are being held longer than they need to be so the companies can make more money. And they’re not even providing the very basics of any sort of standard that anyone in this country would find acceptable.
LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. I want to ask you about the upcoming midterm elections. The GOP could be facing some really tough outcomes here. The president, as you mentioned, continues to face low approval numbers that are underwater. And I think a lot of that has to do with maybe immigration, but I think more likely affordability issues, right?
You mentioned gas prices, but housing prices, grocery prices, like everything is more expensive for people. Inflation continues to remain high.
I wonder how do Democrats, you think, heading into the midterms here, convince voters that they have solutions as opposed to just criticism of what’s gone on in the other side?
YASSAMIN ANSARI: I believe that Democrats need to be very clear about tackling corruption. This has been the most corrupt administration in American history. And to me, the most glaring thing that’s happening as it pertains to affordability is that on one hand, you have Donald Trump and his family making billions of dollars, building a $600 million ballroom at the White House, half of which is being funded by taxpayer dollars.
The Trump kids making billions because the government is contracting with companies they’ve invested in. Starting wars that are helping the military-industrial complex and the oil and gas CEOs. All of this while they’ve ripped away healthcare, they have cut food assistance and continue to make life more unaffordable.
I think Democrats need to be very clear about de-rigging the economy, de-rigging this system, and going after this corruption, and making sure people are held accountable. But then having that positive, affirmative vision.
I’ve been doing, preparing some of that work with the Progressive Caucus in Congress. We’ve released something called the New Affordability Agenda that includes 10 flagship bills that we are working to get broad support for. These are policies that we found that Democrats, independents and Republicans support.
Things like taxing oil and gas profits to give rebate checks to American people. Policies like going after AI price gouging that’s happening at grocery stores that is raising our food prices. Things like abolishing super PACs that are making our election so insane and, and bringing about more corruption. Policies like a $10 cap on childcare a day.
So really again, broadly popular policies that are even really popular among Republicans. I think we need to have these ready to go and pass them early on when we take back the House.
LAUREN GILGER: Right. So, first thing when you’re looking toward a potential win for Democrats taking back the House in November. I mean, that’s obviously on the agenda, but you’re still going to be facing the veto pen of the president.
YASSAMIN ANSARI: Absolutely. At least in that case though, that becomes clear to the American people if we’re passing policies that are broadly popular and will benefit people, and the president decides to veto them, that’s on him. But I think that would make their 2028 prospects even more challenging.
LAUREN GILGER: OK. Rep. Yassamin Ansari joining us, representative for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District. Thank you very much, congresswoman. Appreciate you coming in.
YASSAMIN ANSARI: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
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