Congress
Congressional Black Caucus endorses former rival Rep. Adriano Espaillat over Black primary challenger
NEW YORK — The Congressional Black Caucus’ political arm is endorsing Rep. Adriano Espaillat over a democratic socialist, Afro-Latina primary challenger — about a decade after the group rejected Espaillat’s efforts to join its ranks.
Espaillat, who represents Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, is facing a primary challenge from Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old pro-Palestine organizer who led Columbia University’s protest encampment in 2024. Her candidacy is part of a wave of left-leaning primary challenges against pro-Israel incumbents in New York and beyond.
Espaillat’s rocky history with the Congressional Black Caucus predates his election to Congress. He rankled members of the group in 2012 and 2014 when he waged unsuccessful efforts to unseat Rep. Charles Rangel, a founding member of the CBC.
When Rangel retired, Espaillat ran for the seat a third time and again found himself at odds with the caucus, which endorsed then-state Assemblymember Keith Wright, Rangel’s handpicked successor. Wright, currently the leader of the Manhattan Democratic Party, lost to Espaillat, and the two now helm warring political factions in New York politics.
Once in Congress, Espaillat attempted in 2017 to join the CBC while simultaneously serving in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a group he now leads as its chair. He has identified as a Latino of African descent on the campaign trail, but his request was denied.
Former CBC Chair Karen Bass told POLITICO in 2020 “there was a specific situation that was more important than [Espaillat’s] ethnic background” that prevented him from joining the caucus. “It was a specific conflict, and I’m not going to talk about it.”
Espaillat said he was still trying to join the group in 2022. Now, the organization is backing him for the first time as he faces a challenge from Avila Chevalier, who holds endorsements from the city’s DSA chapter and the Justice Democrats.
“Congressman Adriano Espaillat reflects the kind of leadership that our caucus and its members have long championed,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the CBC’s PAC, in a statement. “At a time when working families are being priced out of neighborhoods they’ve called home for generations, Adriano has been on the front lines of the fight to make New York City more affordable. That commitment is rooted in lived experience, moral clarity, and a deep commitment to economic justice and civil rights.”
In its announcement — shared first with Blue Light News — the CBC’s PAC said its decision to back Espaillat was rooted in his alignment with its core values and touted his work to fund affordable housing and advocate against President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics.
“I am deeply honored to receive the endorsement of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC,” Espaillat said in a statement. “The CBC has long stood at the forefront of the fight for economic opportunity and social justice for Black and other marginalized communities. As the first formerly undocumented person to serve in Congress, this endorsement carries special meaning for me.”
Top officials from ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will testify before the House Homeland Security Committee on Feb. 10, as lawmakers ramp up scrutiny of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown after the killing of Alex Pretti.
House Homeland Security Chair Andrew Garbarino said ICE acting director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow have agreed to appear.
Garbarino, a New York Republican, quickly called for the oversight hearing after federal agents shot and killed Pretti in Minneapolis Saturday.
“Transparency and communication are needed to turn the temperature down,” Garbarino said in a statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has overseen the Minneapolis operation, isn’t set to testify on Capitol Hill until March 3.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has called on the heads of ICE, CBP and USCIS to testify before his panel by Feb. 12.
House Freedom Caucus leaders are warning they will oppose a proposal favored by Senate Democrats to send an amended spending package back across the Capitol without Department of Homeland Security funding.
The ultimatum from the hard-right group comes as top leaders try to find a way to avoid a partial government shutdown late this week after Saturday’s DHS-involved shooting in Minneapolis threw the massive funding package passed by the House last week into jeopardy. Members of the group could potentially tank procedural votes required to advance any alternative funding package.
In a letter to President Donald Trump sent Tuesday, senior members of the group said they would “not allow Democrats to strip [DHS] funding out to pass other appropriations separately.”
“We cannot support giving Democrats the ability to control the funding of our Department of Homeland Security,” they added.
Senate Democrats want to break up the six-bill package sent over from the House, stripping out the DHS funding to renegotiate terms following the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti. But House GOP leaders privately believe that would open a new “hellscape” in the funding talks within the divided House Republican conference.
The leaders of the House Democratic caucus vowed on Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem if President Donald Trump does not fire her, citing a “DHS killing spree unleashed in Minnesota.”
The threat comes as Noem faces heightened scrutiny over her response to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, the second killing by federal immigration agents in the city this month.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) in a joint statement called for “dramatic changes” at DHS and criminal prosecution of federal agents who have broken the law.
“Taxpayer dollars are being weaponized by the Trump administration to kill American citizens, brutalize communities and violently target law-abiding immigrant families,” the leaders wrote. “The country is disgusted by what the Department of Homeland Security has done.”
More than 140 House Democrats have signed on to an impeachment resolution against Noem, who is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March. GOP lawmakers and influential MAGA commentators have also publicly rebuked the Homeland Security secretary in recent days, saying her department’s aggressive immigration operation in Minnesota has overstepped.
“If Democrats cared this much about deporting violent, criminal illegal aliens, the American people would be much safer,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in response to the statement. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration signaled a possible shift in strategy on Monday, with the president sending border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis and announcing that Homan “will report directly to me.” The White House also pulled Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, a close ally of Noem’s whose response to the shooting also drew backlash, from his assignment in the city.
Still, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Noem retains “the utmost confidence and trust of the president of the United States,” and Trump told reporters Tuesday that “she’s done a very good job” and will not step down.
The Democratic leaders wrote in their statement that “the violence unleashed on the American people by the Department of Homeland Security must end forthwith,” adding: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
- ICE, Border Patrol leaders to testify Feb. 10
- Freedom Caucus pushes to fund DHS amid funding fight
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- Eleanor Holmes Norton confirms her retirement as DC delegate
- Florida Republican Vern Buchanan won’t seek reelection
- So long, Paris: US officially leaves landmark climate pact
- How a Democratic heavyweight is using AI in the midterms
- No off-ramp in sight for DHS-fueled shutdown
- Susan Collins speaks with Noem about immigration enforcement
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