California Democrat Norma Torres Proudly Proclaims Illegal Immigrants Are Her Constituents, Too

A California Democratic representative told reporters Wednesday that she counted illegal immigrants as some of her constituents.

Democratic California Rep. Norma Torres made the remark at a press conference promoting her Fairness to Freedom Act — a bill seeking to give people who cannot afford to pay their legal fees the right to government-funded legal representation while undergoing specific immigration proceedings, such as removal and immigration bond hearings. Torres introduced the bill in 2023.

“Everyone living in my district is my constituent, and I am there to serve and to be a public servant for them. Everyone who pays taxes is a constituent of all members of Congress, including immigrants that have filed for a tax ID and are denied any benefits,” Torres told reporters.

Torres made the comment in response to a question from Daily Signal journalism fellow George Caldwell.

Caldwell, alluding to a recent comment by the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, asked Torres whether she “view[ed] everyone in your district — including undocumented immigrants — as your constituent.”

Miller said Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen was potentially mistaking the deported alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador as his constituent in a recent FOX News appearance. “[Abrego Garcia] is [Salvadoran] President [Nayib] Bukele’s constituent. He is President Bukele’s citizen. He is President Bukele’s resident. He’s not a Maryland man. He’s not a Maryland anything. He’s an illegal alien from El Salvador with a deportation order from the United States,” Miller said. (RELATED: Trump — But Not His Lawyers — Open To Bringing Abrego Garcia Back For Legal Proceedings)

“We all know that the system is designed to leave people in the dark without legal support so they can be railroaded through the system and taken out of our country,” Torres said.

“But the Fairness to Freedom Act says ‘Enough is enough.’ If a detainee doesn’t get counseled in time, the deportation proceedings must be terminated with prejudice — meaning the charges are dropped and cannot be filed again,” she added.

Democrat Reps. Robert Garcia of California and Pramila Jayapal of Washington state appeared with Torres at the press conference.

Illegal immigrants are included in U.S. census data. Given that census figures determine the number of House of Representatives seats and the Electoral College votes that a state receives, claims that including illegal immigrants in census figures could skew the number of seats and votes in favor of Democrat states have arisen. Multiple studies claim that the impact is negligible.

Illegal immigrants are legally ineligible to cast ballots in federal elections, being noncitizens — although they could vote in other elections if permitted by state and local laws, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

No state constitution explicitly permits noncitizens to vote in state or local elections, according to Ballotpedia. San Francisco and Oakland, both cities in California, voted to allow noncitizens to vote in local school board elections in 2016 and 2022 respectively. A judge struck down the San Francisco measure in 2022, ruling that only citizens can vote under California’s constitution, and Oakland’s has reportedly not been implemented.