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On June 6th, US representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), a ranking member of the Immigrant Integrity, Security and Enforcement Subcommittee, held a hearing entitled “Tracked and Eliminated: Trump’s Lawless Third Country.”
The hearing involved investigating immigration cases. He was lawlessly lured to third countries such as El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, South Sudan, and Libya, and disappeared. Members asked and heard questions from lawyer experts who represent some of the people deported to third countries, including those who disappeared under the alien enemy law.
For more information about these loss disappearances, you can look into the impact of the first six months of President Trump’s second term in the U.S. Immigration Council’s upcoming report.
Among the witnesses at Friday’s hearing was Beatrice, a Venezuelan-American immigration and immigration lawyer. Below is her testimony:
Beatrice, House Judiciary Committee Testimony, June 6, 2025
Good morning, ranking members Jayapal and honorable members of the House Judiciary Committee. My name is Beatrice Guzman and I am a proud Venezuelan-American American citizen.
About 20 years ago, my parents made the difficult decision to leave their family home in Venezuela to move to the United States with me and my siblings in search of a safer and safer future for our family.
At the time, Chavez’s recent election in Venezuela has caused chaos and violence in our community. It wasn’t very safe to go outside our home, some of my family faced threats. My family didn’t know if it was unsafe, fearing to express political opposition. It was becoming a Venezuela that my parents didn’t recognize.
Even though I was young, I remember coming across my parents’ bedroom the night when the bombs were close enough to our house where the windows in my room were shattered. A few years later, young children arriving in New York – the sounds of fireworks on July 4th will scare me.
I arrived in New York as a seven-year-old and everything was new and different. However, the English lessons my dad took me to and my younger age quickly assimilated me. I grew up in New York with other Venezuelans, but as a neighbor to many Caribbean immigrants, I’m my favorite for learning and loving their culture and eating Dominican food. It was the typical American immigrant experience that shaped me and motivated me. I was in the country without a legal status, but I was fortunate to finally have access to US citizenship through my father’s employment.
School and study were my strengths. I often feel isolated and go mainly to white institutions, so I turned to books and writing for comfort. I ended up graduating from St. John’s University and was awarded a scholarship to attend the University of San Diego Law School. This is the first time on the West Coast. While in law school, I was drawn to both the intellectual challenges of immigration law and felt that I could add a human perspective where my own experience and identity are often lacking in the law.
I’ve been practicing for almost a year now. The children I represent are younger or younger than when I came to this country. I know how horrifying it is to be alone and unable to speak English and try to deal with authority figures. But now I have seen the federal dollar end for legal services. Children are left to defend them to everyone. The 3-year-old and 4-year-old are taken to immigration hearings without a lawyer, without a prosecution of English.
The sadness I feel as I watch my ex-child client try to get through their cases without real legitimate procedures is exacerbated by my own sadness and fear, given that the Trump administration is targeting Venezuelans and my community. The day I learned about the man sent to a prison in El Salvador, I felt paralyzed. I began to think of every Venezuelan man in my life. We saw the inhuman image of men at CECOT and saw the recognized faces. I quickly went to some of the WhatsApp groups and found countless messages of people who were afraid of disappearing their loved ones or being targeted. As a lawyer, I felt called to do something, but I didn’t know what to do. Despite being able to help me to go to law school, I felt helpless. At one time, I was in a state of sadness, scared and incredible.
It is clear that the Trump administration is heading out to deny the legitimate proceedings of many Venezuelans living in the United States from their position. Despite our love for this country, we are the target despite the only place we can call home. Just like my child’s clients who are afraid to go to school, I feel that hole in my stomach that this country is not safe for them. My parents and family feel this way now. Even when we leave our home with our passport, we feel that too. And this is all flashbacks for my dad. It reminds us of the culture of terror that comes in the early days of authoritarianism.
Not only Venezuelans but immigrants, but my community has been demonized and dehumanized, so I felt compelled to testify today to share my story. I became a lawyer who contributed to my community in a meaningful way, and tried to combine reading and writing with living experiences. But as the attacks on my community continue, I anger and saddened me to see my community being described in this way. I’m proud to be a Venezuelan American. I want to show you who we are. I would like to oppose our created narratives used to strip us of our rights and humanity.
Targeting these Venezuelan men’s loss for is scary for them, but also scary for us all. We have the weight of their dehumanization. We feel targeted and scared. And we mean Venezuelan Americans, but we also mean other immigrants who are our neighbors. It scares many of us, US citizen immigrants and our families.
Because as Venezuelan immigrants, if America can’t push back these Trump actions, or if we can now lose our fight for legitimate processes and fundamental rights, we may all lose this American home, as we know. Take our words about it. Thank you this morning.
Submitted below: Trump administration
