Fetterman stopped reading, slid his phone into the kangaroo pouch of his black cotton hoodie. “I’ve been told that they’re not going to be put in harm’s way, but if the border talks did put them in harm’s way, I can never and would never vote against their interest,” he said.
“To be clear,” he continued. “I’m not calling for deporting hundreds of thousands or millions of people, or that kind of thing. That’s not who we are. We have to secure our border, but I want every immigrant to have their own American dream. Okay?”
“Got it,” I exhaled loudly, realizing only then I’d been holding my breath, hanging on his every syllable. “Thank you, senator.” Fetterman offered me an awkward handshake before abruptly shuffling away toward the entrance of the Senate chamber. “Yeah, thanks,” he muttered as he walked by me.
This was new. Fetterman had finally declared his alignment with promises Gisele made to migrant communities (and Latino press) on the campaign trail, that her husband John would fight for them. “I know what it’s like to live in limbo,” Gisele told me while John recovered from his stroke in September 2022. “John has seen my journey, my family’s journey as immigrants to this country.”