Katie Phang

Mass agents, violent raids without transparency, communities living in fear, that is not public safety, that is authoritarianism.

And the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, oversees all of this.

If a cabinet official allows this level of neglect under her watch, then she should be impeached.

Authoritarianism is when the government cages the sick, it is when cruelty becomes policy, and it is when federal power is turned inward against our own people.

My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran.

They came to this country because America was supposed to be different.

This country welcomed them.

It allowed them to work hard and to build a better life.

And in one generation, they watched their daughter become the first Iranian American Democrat ever elected to Congress.

That is the promise of America, and I refuse to let it be dismantled.

The real state of our union is whether people like Yari are safe, whether the sick receive care, and whether human dignity still matters.

So tonight we say together, free Yari!

Free Yari!

because she belongs here.

She deserves care, she deserves dignity, and she deserves freedom.

Now I want to turn it over to Sonia, who I've gotten to know through this horrific experience to share your and Yadi's story.

Thank you, Congresswoman Ansari.

I'm honored to stand with you tonight to expose Trans-Rio State of the Union.

Yadi is not a criminal.

And for a year now, I have had to watch my health, her health, I am so sorry.