Vulnerable Border District Dem Leans Into ICE Resistance

New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez, a self-styled moderate Democrat, has ramped up his resistance to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement activities, a stark contrast to other vulnerable border district Democrats who have largely stayed silent on the issue.

Vasquez, a two-term Democrat from Las Cruces, denounced ICE raids in Los Angeles last month, accusing the Trump administration of “transforming our streets into war zones.” Vasquez voted against a resolution condemning riots that followed the raids, in which anti-ICE protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at ICE agents and set fire to police cars and other vehicles.

Vasquez has promoted other efforts to thwart ICE, advising undocumented constituents that they “do not have to open the door” to immigration agents.

“You do not have to share your immigration status or your place of birth,” Vasquez’s congressional website tells constituents. Vasquez also informs constituents that they “can report and document raids and arrests to share with attorneys and advocacy organizations.”

Vasquez’s advice comes amid multiple attacks on ICE agents in Portland, Ore., Alvarado, Tex., and McAllen, Tex., earlier this month.

Vasquez is embracing anti-ICE rhetoric after running as a moderate in 2022 and 2024. Vasquez, who campaigned on “ensuring we have a safe and secure border,” won his race by four points last year, overcoming revelations that he once referred to a black coworker by the “n-word” in a threatening phone call in 2004.

It’s also a different approach than other vulnerable Democrats, including those representing border districts. Texas Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, whose districts border Mexico, have stayed mum on the ICE raids in Los Angeles. Cuellar was one of seven House Democrats who voted to condemn the riots that followed those raids. Five other Democrats facing competitive races next year voted in favor of the measure, which passed on June 27. Vasquez, however, voted against it.

Vasquez also broke with Cuellar, Gonzalez, and other moderate Democrats on the Laken Riley Act, a bill that requires federal immigration agencies to detain without bail illegal aliens accused of violent crimes. Vasquez bragged about his vote against the bill, casting it as an act of political “courage.”

Vasquez’s latest rhetoric is perhaps no surprise for the 40-year-old lawmaker, who has promoted calls to abolish ICE and Customs and Border Protection. He reposted another tweet in 2020 that claimed “ICE is committing genocide,” according to Townhall.

Vasquez has embraced other radical causes, calling to defund police departments in a 2020 interview in which he used a fake name while wearing a facial covering. “It’s not just about defunding police, it’s about defunding a system that privileges white people over everyone else,” said Vasquez, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Vasquez defended riots in response to the death of George Floyd, writing in since-deleted posts that “There is so much to undo, to unravel this system & shift power structures to fundamentally change this country. That’s why the cars and buildings are burning.”

Vasquez’s congressional office and campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

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