Ana Alonso, friend of DREDF and constituent of Congressman David Valadao (CA-22), read this speech during the Fund Care, Not ICE Press Conference on May 20, 2026, at the Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC:
Good afternoon, thank you for having me here.
Thank you, Popular Democracy and Hill Champions for giving me the opportunity to share my history.
My name is Ana Alonso. I am from Bakersfield, California. I’m an organizer representing all the people that are in immigration detention, especially the ones from Padres Unidos de Kern. Jorge Ibarra and your family, this is for you guys. You are not alone.
We are closing this event and I hope you can see the history of millions of people who depend on health services like me through my history.
I immigrated from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico at the age of 18.
I came with the dream of a better life. I have 24 years of loving America, trying to make it better, making it great.
I worked in the fields in agriculture, which provides food to put on our tables. I also worked in the classroom educating and shaping young minds.
I have an organization, Padres Unidos de Kern. We give back by volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House. We help other families with disabled children navigate the system that is so hard to access.
My family is composed of my mother and my three sons, two of whom I adopted.
Every single person in my house has a disability. Most of us have multiple disabilities. We rely on Medi-Cal, In Home Support Services, and regional center services to survive.
When you talk about cuts—please understand—you are talking about our lives.
Everyone in my household depends on Medi-Cal. My mother and two of my sons rely on IHSS. We have 12 caregivers rotating through our home every week, providing around-the-clock care. They help us eat, bathe, move, stay safe, and survive emergencies.
Without them, our family collapses.
And if these Medicaid cuts move forward, that is exactly what will happen.
If Medi-Cal is cut or costs more, the outcome is even more direct: we will die. Please don’t fund ICE. Fund care, please.
One of my son’s medications costs $5,300 a month. The problem is he takes 23 medications total. There is no way I can afford to keep him alive by myself.
Every day I see families like mine forced to beg for basic services.
We are already exhausted, and, for many of us, the fight is even harder because of systemic racism and anti-immigrant bias.
So I need to ask you: If Medi-Cal and IHSS are cut, who is going to support families like mine?
Someone has to.
I want to be very clear: you are making decisions that will determine whether people live or die.
Please do not treat this like a light topic. Please care.
These cuts put families like mine in danger.
It means choosing to turn your backs on people who cannot survive without support.
We are not numbers. We are not fraud. We are humans. We have the right to live with health, dignity, and safety.
Cutting services with a baseline is not going to work.
Each of us in the disability community is unique. Do not measure us with a single yardstick. We are unique.
Protect our health care and services. Invest in health care, not ICE. And I say this to all those representatives. Remember, we will vote remember in November.
Fund care, not ICE! Don’t commit genocide one again!
