Adam's record on Immigration & ICE

On June 14, 2012, Smith said the administration's action deferring deportation for DREAM-eligible youth provided relief, called the relief temporary, and urged Congress to pass the DREAM Act.¹

On June 24, 2012, Smith said he was pleased the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of Arizona's immigration law but was disappointed the Court upheld the "Show Me Your Papers" provision, which he said allows local law enforcement to rely on racial profiling.¹

On June 27, 2012, after the House voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, Smith said the vote achieved nothing and was done to prove a political point, and said he was disappointed his Republican colleagues held the vote instead of investigating what happened.¹

On 2014-03-13, Smith said he was "very concerned" about a hunger strike at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma and that his office had contacted ICE and the NWDC to raise constituent questions about the bond process, length of detention, and nutrition standards.¹

On 2014-03-23, Smith said he spoke with DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson about his visit to the NWDC, invited Johnson to visit the facility, and expressed concerns about the rising number of immigrants being deported.¹

Smith said Johnson told him DHS was reviewing all deportation policies.¹

In budget statements on 2014-03-03 and 2014-04-01, Smith listed advancing comprehensive immigration reform among the policies he said would create jobs and strengthen the middle class.²

On June 23, 2014, Smith joined Representative Jared Polis and 43 other House Democrats in sending a letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson asking the department to review its immigration detainer practices and halt the use of detainers in their current form.¹

In statements on July 13 and July 17, 2014, Smith said he supported the administration's supplemental appropriation request, opposed weakening the 2008 law that protects minors fleeing trafficking or violence, and opposed sending children back without due process, including consideration for asylum.²

On July 23 and July 29, 2014, Smith said House Republican proposals for the border funding bill would weaken the 2008 law protecting minors fleeing trafficking or violence, and in the July 29 statement said the Republican bill would prohibit placing unaccompanied minors with sponsors and would provide more funding for the National Guard at the border than for immigration judges.²

On July 31, 2014, Smith said he strongly opposed the House Republican supplemental appropriations bill, citing an attempt to strip Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and provisions he said prioritized speedy removals above due process and the rights and safety of the children.¹

On November 19 and 20, 2014, Smith said he strongly supported the President's executive action on deportation relief and said Congress should pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill.²

He said Congress had the votes to pass comprehensive immigration reform for over a year but that a vote had not been allowed in the House.²

On December 4, 2014, Smith opposed H.R. 5759, legislation passed by House Republicans that he said tries to ban the President from using his authority on immigration.¹

On December 11, 2014, Smith opposed provisions in the CROmnibus spending bill, saying it provided funding for the Department of Homeland Security only until February 27.¹

On February 13, 2015, Smith said Republicans had "decided to hold funding for the Department of Homeland Security, a vital national security agency, hostage" to their immigration policy goals, and called threatening the agency's funding "highly irresponsible."¹

On February 18, 2015, after a U.S. District Court issued an injunction on the President's executive action on immigration, Smith said he was "disappointed in the decision to temporarily delay" the action and said the President "acted within his legal authority."¹

On February 27, 2015, with DHS funded only through February, Smith said House Republicans were "yet again manufacturing a crisis," noted the Senate had passed a "clean funding bill" in a bipartisan way, and urged House Republican leadership to do the same.¹

In an October 27, 2015 statement on a bipartisan budget agreement, Smith said an ideal budget must advance comprehensive immigration reform.¹

In a November 17, 2015 statement responding to a Syrian refugee bill offered by Chairman McCaul, Smith described the U.S. refugee vetting process, noting that most applicants undergo 18-24 months of screening that includes biometric verification, background checks, and in-person interviews by U.S. officials.¹

On November 23, 2015, a press release from Smith's office quoted Governor Jay Inslee and Representative Jim McDermott rejecting fear and panic surrounding refugee resettlement in Washington state.¹

On December 7, 2015, Smith said, "I condemn Donald Trump's recent proposal to bar all Muslims from entering the United States."¹

On April 15, 2016, Smith said he supported President Obama's executive actions expanding the DACA and DAPA deferred-action programs, joined Congressional Hispanic Caucus members at the Capitol, and signed a Supreme Court amicus brief arguing the programs were lawful ahead of oral arguments in United States v. Texas.¹

On May 6, 2016, Smith said statements from the Republican presidential candidate could not go unaddressed and said Republicans were presenting a different vision for the country.¹

He said hateful and violent rhetoric had affected community centers and places of worship in the Puget Sound region, and said America should stand with immigrants and lead on refugee resettlement.¹

From January 24 to March 6, 2017, Smith issued a series of press releases opposing President Trump's immigration executive orders, including the initial order restricting immigration enforcement, the order barring refugees and visa holders from seven countries, and its revised version issued in March.⁴

He stated that the U.S. southern border was already secure, citing zero net immigration from Mexico over the prior three years, and said refugees already undergo a vetting process that typically takes 18 to 24 months.²

After a three-judge panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a block on the travel ban, Smith said he was pleased with the ruling and praised the State of Washington for bringing the lawsuit.¹

He also raised concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions affecting DACA recipients and called on the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to clarify their enforcement standards.¹

Smith said the RAISE Act would cut legal immigration in half, alter the family-based immigration system, and deny asylum to tens of thousands of refugees fleeing dangerous conditions and persecution, and said Trump's pardon of Sheriff Arpaio was an affront to the rule of law.²

He opposed President Trump's decision to end DACA, saying it disrespected America's values and pledging to keep working to protect DREAMers from deportation.²

He opposed the Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act, saying it was brought to the House floor with no hearings or opportunity for amendments and would allow immigrants to be detained and deported based on a supposed belief of criminal activity rather than proven gang affiliation.¹

With Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, he introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, legislation that would end the use of private facilities and repeal mandatory detention in the immigration detention system.²

On June 8, 2018, Smith sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions, Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen, and HHS Secretary Azar raising concerns about the detention of asylum applicants at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac, and joined Governor Inslee, Attorney General Ferguson, and Representatives Jayapal, DelBene, and Heck at a press conference on family separations, saying he was "deeply disturbed by reports" of women seeking asylum being detained after separation from their children and that he condemned "the Trump Administration's zero-tolerance policy of separating immigrant families."¹

On June 20, 2018, Smith and Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed sent a letter to Defense Secretary Mattis requesting assurances that Members of Congress could conduct oversight of any Department of Defense sites used to house migrant children, with Smith stating he would "continue to do everything I can to stop this administration's inhumane policy toward children and their families."¹

On June 28, 2018, Smith said a "compromise" immigration bill that failed to pass the House that week had been drafted without consulting a single Democrat and had no significant differences from the Goodlatte bill, which had also failed to pass the previous week.¹

On October 26, 2018, Smith, as House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member, released a statement calling President Trump's plan to send 800 additional troops to the border "fundamentally wrong and a political act."¹

In that statement, he said the people in the caravan the President was focused on were coming to seek asylum and had a lawful right to do so.¹

On November 1, 2018, Smith led 104 other House Democrats, along with the ranking members of the Homeland Security, Judiciary, and Oversight committees, in a letter to Secretary of Defense Mattis demanding information on the deployment of 5,200 additional troops to the border, including its cost, duration, and rules of engagement.¹

On November 23, 2018, Smith called the military's expanded authority to use lethal force, detain, and search civilians at the southern border unwise, unnecessary, and likely illegal under the Posse Comitatus Act.¹

On November 29, 2018, following the death of asylum seeker Mergensana Amar at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Smith joined other lawmakers in requesting information from ICE about the circumstances of the death and requesting a Department of Homeland Security Inspector General investigation into conditions at the facility.²

After the border deployment was extended to the end of January 2019, Smith said on December 7, 2018 that the extension was not a responsible use of Department of Defense resources and that continued detention of asylum seekers, then over 40,000 people in custody, was inhumane.¹

On December 14, 2018, Smith became an original cosponsor of the Establishing a Humane Immigration Enforcement System Act, which would convene a commission on immigration enforcement reform and includes terminating ICE within one year of enactment.¹

On January 19, 2019, Smith said President Trump's speech on the shutdown did nothing to advance a "fact-based discussion" on border security and immigration reform, and after the shutdown ended on January 25 he called it "a manufactured crisis" tied to the President's wall funding demand.²

Ahead of the February 5 State of the Union, Smith said Trump's recent addresses "were riddled with mischaracterizations and lies about immigrants and our border."¹

On February 14, Smith voted for a conference report funding seven appropriations bills through the end of the fiscal year, while stating he was "gravely concerned" about increased immigrant detention funding in the bill.¹

On February 15, Smith said Trump's declaration of a national emergency to fund the wall took money from military family and readiness projects, and on February 26 he voted for H.J.Res 46 to terminate that declaration.²

On September 25, 2019, Smith voted yes on two procedural votes to bring H.R. 2203, the Homeland Security Improvement Act, and H.R. 3525, the U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act, to the House floor, which passed 227–191 and 228–191.²

The next day, Smith voted yes on passage of H.R. 3525, which passed 230–184, and voted no on a motion to recommit the bill with instructions, which failed 202–213.²

Also on September 26, Smith submitted a statement for a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship hearing on immigration detention, saying the Northwest Detention Center in his district, which is run by GEO Group, "stands in direct opposition to the shared values of our community and country."¹

In the statement, Smith said he has worked with constituents and advocates on conditions at the facility and referenced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which he leads with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.¹

On May 12, 2020, Smith led a group of Washington state lawmakers in a letter to the head of GEO Group and the ICE Field Officer for the Northwest Detention Center, requesting weekly briefings on health and safety conditions and the impact of COVID-19 on detainees and staff.¹

The letter followed confirmation of the first positive COVID-19 test at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.¹

The lawmakers wrote that they shared concerns raised by public health experts about the continued spread of COVID-19 in detention facilities as the number of infected detainees and staff climbed.¹

On December 3, 2020, Smith joined other Washington lawmakers in sending a letter to Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Cuffari requesting an investigation into allegations of violence against detained immigrants and a comprehensive review of the use of solitary confinement at the Northwest Detention Center, citing a University of Washington Center for Human Rights report on the misuse of solitary confinement there.¹

The letter stated that individuals in immigration detention remained vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks and that several people detained at the facility were reportedly on hunger strikes in protest of inadequate policies and a lack of communication about the virus.¹

On December 6, 2020, Smith released a statement after a federal court ordered the Trump administration to restore DACA to its original form in Batalla Vidal v. Wolf, saying the ruling reopens DACA to first-time applicants, restores work authorization and renewals to two years, and makes travel on advance parole more widely available.¹

He called the ruling "a major victory not just for immigrant youth and their families but for all Americans."¹

On March 4, 2021, Smith introduced the bipartisan Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021 with Rep. John Curtis to provide U.S. citizenship to international adoptees who were brought to the U.S. as children but never granted citizenship.¹

On March 18, 2021, Smith released a statement after the House passed H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, saying it would provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and immigrant youth and for eligible TPS and DED holders.¹

That same day, Smith voted to pass H.R. 1603, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, saying it would create a path to legal status for undocumented farmworkers and reform the H-2A agriculture visa program.¹

On March 25, 2021, Smith joined Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Sen. Cory Booker in reintroducing the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which ends the use of private detention facilities, repeals mandatory detention, and prohibits solitary confinement.¹

On April 30, 2021, Representative Adam Smith submitted Community Project Funding requests to the House Appropriations Committee for ten projects in Washington's Ninth District for the FY 2022 appropriations bill.¹

The requests included $673,000 for an Entrepreneurship Incubation Hub teaching and commercial kitchen for the refugee and immigrant community at World Relief Seattle in Kent, $600,000 for the African Diaspora Cultural Anchor Village in Tukwila, and $1,000,000 for the Wadajir Residences & Souq in Tukwila.³

Smith also submitted a $1,000,000 request for the MLK Mixed Use Affordable Housing and Early Learning Center in Rainier Valley, Seattle.¹

Smith secured $673,000 in the 2022 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill for a teaching and commercial kitchen serving King County's refugee and immigrant community, part of $8,148,000 he secured for ten 9th District community projects.²

The release said the space would serve as a small-business incubation hub, training refugee and immigrant entrepreneurs through an Entrepreneurship Academy.¹

On July 22, 2021, Smith issued a statement after the House passed H.R. 3985, the ALLIES Act, saying the bill removes or revises statutory requirements in the Special Immigrant Visa process and increases the number of visas available by several thousand.¹

On September 27, 2021, Smith and Senator Patty Murray led the Washington congressional delegation in sending a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson regarding conditions at the Northwest ICE Processing Center following COVID-19 outbreaks there.¹

The letter stated that since early June there had been more than 300 COVID-19 cases at the facility.¹

On September 28, 2021, Smith and the Washington delegation sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging thirteen steps to aid evacuation from Afghanistan, including expediting processing of Special Immigrant Visas and P-1, P-2, and P-3 referrals.¹

On March 9, 2022, the House passed a government spending package by a vote of 260 to 171 that included more than $9 million Smith had secured for ten community projects in Washington's Ninth District.¹

Biden signed the package into law, and it included funding for the African Diaspora Cultural Anchor Village in Tukwila, described by its executive director as a place for African diaspora immigrants and refugees to live, learn, work, gather, and thrive.¹

In a March 23 statement on the death of Madeleine Albright, Smith said she came to the United States as a refugee at the age of eleven.¹

On May 21, 2022, after a federal court blocked the Biden administration's attempt to end Title 42, Smith called the policy a "xenophobic hold-over policy from the Trump administration" and urged Congress not to take action that would prevent or undermine the administration's ability to end it.¹

On June 9, 2022, Smith and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard introduced three bills, including the Immigrants in Nursing and Allied Health Act of 2022, intended to reduce employment barriers for immigrants entering the health care workforce.¹

On June 15, 2022, marking the 10th anniversary of DACA, Smith said the program has protected millions of Dreamers from deportation and called for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants.¹

On July 20, 2022, Smith led Washington delegation members in a letter to federal officials supporting a Section 1332 waiver that would let uninsured Washington residents currently ineligible due to immigration status purchase coverage through the state marketplace.¹

On December 14, 2022, Smith led a letter with three other House members to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security urging an extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status for Somalia, citing armed conflict, high civilian casualty figures, and drought-driven hunger affecting an estimated 6.1 million people.¹

The letter said roughly 400 TPS beneficiaries would lose work authorization and face deportation if the designation, set to expire March 17, 2023, was not extended.¹

On January 11, 2023, Smith hosted a Treasury Department roundtable with local money service businesses, saying their lack of banking access raises costs for firms serving "most often immigrant communities and communities of color."¹

On April 20, 2023, Smith joined Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Pramila Jayapal in reintroducing the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which the release described as ending mandatory detention, promoting community-based alternatives, and ending the use of private, for-profit detention centers.¹

On May 11, 2023, Smith issued a statement on H.R. 2, the House Republicans' immigration bill, saying, "H.R. 2 would destroy our asylum system, restart construction on an expensive and ineffective border wall, and drastically expand the detention of children and families."¹

On May 25, 2023, Smith introduced the Immigrants in Nursing and Allied Health Act, the International Medical Graduate (IMG) Assistance Act, and the Professional's Access to Health (PATH) Workforce Integration Act, described in the release as intended to help immigrants enter health care professions.¹

On January 30, 2024, Smith voted no on ordering the previous question for H.Res. 980, a resolution providing for consideration of bills including the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act, which passed 216–210 with no Democrats voting yes.¹

He also voted no on agreeing to the resolution itself, which also passed 216–210 with no Democrats voting yes.¹

On January 31, 2024, Smith voted yes on H.R. 6679, the No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act, which passed 422–2 with 207 Democrats voting yes and 2 voting no.¹

On February 23, 2024, Smith led a letter with Senator Mazie Hirono and 31 members of Congress urging the Department of Homeland Security to implement a prosecutorial discretion policy for intercountry adoptees who did not acquire U.S. citizenship when they were adopted.¹

The letter stated that adoptees who did not acquire citizenship and have interactions with the criminal legal system are vulnerable to removal proceedings, immigration detention, and deportation.¹

On March 12, 2024, Smith voted no on a House resolution denouncing the Biden administration's immigration policies, which passed 226-193 with 14 Democrats voting yes and 193 voting no.¹

On May 1, 2024, Smith voted no on H.Res. 1112, a resolution denouncing the Biden administration's immigration policies, which passed the House 223-191.¹

On May 15, 2024, he voted no on H.R. 7343, the Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act, which passed the House 265-148.¹

On June 4, 2024, Smith joined Representative Don Bacon and Senators Mazie Hirono and Susan Collins to introduce the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2024, which would grant U.S. citizenship to international adoptees who were legally adopted as children but lack citizenship status due to a gap in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.¹

Smith, in social media posts and a press release, said the Trump administration was defying the Supreme Court and called for Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return to the United States after his deportation to a prison in El Salvador.³

Smith issued a statement supporting Rep. McIver after she was criminally charged following a visit to an ICE detention facility in Newark, and joined letters with other Washington delegation members demanding answers about an ICE raid in Kent and about administration efforts to deport people to third countries.⁵

Smith issued a statement opposing the administration's newly announced travel ban on 12 countries and said he supported legislation that would limit a president's authority to restrict entry into the United States.²

On H.R. 2056, the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act, Smith voted no on passage, which the House passed 224–194, and voted yes on a motion to recommit, which failed 205–215.²

On July 18, Smith said Nicolle Forero and her family, who had sought asylum and were active in the local community, were deported to Colombia after what was supposed to be a routine court check-in on June 18.²

On August 4 he said the public must stand up to Trump's 'continued immigration raids,' among other policies; in mid-August he said constituents at a Renton Rotary Club meeting and a virtual town hall raised questions about the immigration system and pushing back against ICE raids; and on August 28 he said two firefighting crew members were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol while working a wildfire on the Olympic Peninsula, calling their treatment 'deeply troubling.'⁵

In September he said he joined 95 colleagues condemning the 'cruel detention and deportation' of Dreamers, and on September 22 he and Rep. Don Bacon, with Senators Hirono and Collins, introduced the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act to grant U.S. citizenship to international adoptees who lack citizenship status under a loophole in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.²

In October he said Republicans were lying about giving ACA benefits to immigrants without legal status and said people without legal status are ineligible for Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies.²

In November and December 2025, Smith said he was an original cosponsor of the Lady Liberty Act, which would require the President to set a goal of admitting no less than 125,000 refugees annually, and said he had reintroduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act with Rep. Pramila Jayapal to add oversight and guardrails to immigration detention.³

Smith said ICE shot and killed a civilian in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, later named in his statements as Renee Good, called for a thorough investigation of the officer's actions, and said ICE needed to leave Minneapolis immediately and stand down across the country.³

Smith voted no on the Senate-passed funding package that included two weeks of funding for the Department of Homeland Security on February 3, 2026, and voted no on the Deporting Fraudsters Act, which passed the House 231-186, on March 18, 2026.²

He signed onto a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on January 27, 2026, and said in March 2026 that he supported funding every part of the Department of Homeland Security other than ICE and did not intend to give ICE more funding.³

On June 25, 2026, Smith said a Supreme Court ruling would allow the administration to deport thousands of people who had been living and working legally in the United States for years, describing it as a "cruel administration."¹

On July 16, 2026, Smith said immigration reform should start with phasing out private, for-profit detention centers that have been criticized for unsafe and inhumane conditions, and he and @jayapal.house.gov introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act to end the use of for-profit immigration detention facilities.²

On July 17, 2026, Smith and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi introduced the Welcome Back to the Health Care Workforce Act to help internationally educated health care professionals overcome licensing, credentialing, and language barriers to practicing in the United States.¹

On July 25, 2026, Smith said two individuals had been fatally shot by ICE the previous week and said ICE must be restructured with clear guardrails and real accountability.¹