At least one House Democrat is refusing to attend a meeting with one of Kamala Harris' top aides after the vice president's new hire was found to have made disparaging comments about undocumented immigrants.
Rep. Lou Correa of California told The Hill on Tuesday that he would not join fellow members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) in confronting Harris' new communications director Jamal Simmons face-to-face.
It was reported earlier this week that Simmons is meeting with the group on Thursday to hear their concerns about old posts on Twitter that surfaced this month where Simmons called for illegal immigrants to be rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
'The deep concern to me is this may show his true disposition when it comes to immigration. That's what my concern is,' Correa said.
'A meeting is not going to change my mind or give me peace of mind one way or the other.'
Correa, who fought hard to include immigration reform in President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill, indicated he was more interested in meaningful change than apologies.
Rep. Lou Correa, among the strongest backers of immigration reform in Congress, said he was concerned 'this may show his true disposition when it comes to immigration'
He also appeared to leave the door open for future cooperation with Simmons.
'Everybody changes. I think Mr. Simmons, like I, we all change our predisposition, our perspective on issues and you know what, I think actions speak louder than words,' Correa said.
The California Democrat made stronger comments earlier this week when he indicated he may be at the Thursday teleconference meeting, telling Axios: 'Is he a Trumper? That’s a question I might ask him.'
'The statements that Jamal made were just stunning, beyond stunning. Words cannot describe my feelings,' Correa had said.
Simmons joined Harris' team in early January after her previous communications director Ashley Etienne, a longtime aide of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left the administration at the end of last year.
The troublesome tweets surfaced soon after.
On November 29, 2010, Simmons wrote: 'Just saw 2 undocumented folks talking on MSNBC. One Law student the other a protester. Can someone explain why ICE is not picking them up?'
Jamal Simmons, a longtime progressive activist and writer, was announced to be joining Vice President Kamala Harris' team in early January
He followed that with a similar post just 10 minutes later.
'I'll try this again: Just saw 2 undocumented folks talking on MSNBC and have serious legal question. Why wouldn't ICE pick them up?' Simmons wrote.
A later tweet called for 'hardening' borders while also finding a way to widen the pathway to citizenship for undocumented migrants in the country.
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