(MANHASSET, NEW YORK) U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi convened what organizers called the first-in-the-nation bipartisan immigration roundtable on October 24, 2025, bringing about a dozen Democrats and Republicans from his Long Island district into the Quaker Meeting House in Manhasset to test whether ordinary citizens can find common ground on one of the country’s most divisive issues. The participants, a mix of immigrants and long-term residents, worked through a structured, civil discussion to draft a set of policy ideas they said both parties could live with, while voicing sharp concerns about enforcement practices and the strain on local services.
The event, designed and run by Braver Angels, a nonprofit that focuses on reducing political polarization, was modeled on citizens assemblies, where a representative group of residents work toward consensus recommendations. Suozzi, who chairs the Problem Solvers Caucus in the House, said he would take the group’s proposals to the bipartisan caucus as part of his effort to press for action in a Congress that has repeatedly failed to pass broad immigration legislation.
“Those are all things I’m currently doing now in my immigration work,” he said, adding: “The most important thing is that it was very encouraging that a lot of people from different perspectives agreed with each other.”
For participants, the conversation was as much about everyday life as it was about federal policy. Several described the stress of uncertain status, slow-moving paperwork, and fear stirred by immigration enforcement. Swati Srivastava, an Indian immigrant who has lived in the United States for more than 25 years, told the room how that fear reaches even families who have been settled for decades.
“There is an unease that we are all living with at this point…What’s going on is also totally putting fear in people who’ve been living here for a long time,” Srivastava said. She added, “I share these stories, and I find that a lot of people who were actually quite extreme before think, ‘Oh no, I didn’t want you to feel that way.’ There’s a general sense that we are just not wanted, and now we’re all feeling that unease.”
The Manhasset immigration roundtable yielded a list of specific ideas the group believed could form the basis of a bipartisan deal. These included streamlining and shortening the asylum process; adding resources and attorneys to handle cases; securing the U.S.-Mexico border; providing amnesty and a pathway to citizenship for people who have lived in the United States for at least five years; granting legal status to adults who arrived as children; and creating a clear policy for temporary workers. Several participants pushed for faster adjudication so that people with valid protection claims can live and work legally while cases move through the system, and so those without claims receive decisions more quickly. The emphasis, they said, was on making the process transparent and humane while restoring a sense of order at the border.
Concerns about enforcement were a constant thread. Both Democrats and Republicans in the room described current Immigration and Customs Enforcement practices as “cruel” and “disruptive,” signaling an unusual cross-party convergence on tactics that often draw partisan lines. Some attendees raised scenarios where neighbors avoided reporting crimes or even routine interactions with local authorities because they feared those moments could lead to detention or deportation. Suozzi echoed those worries, warning that when residents are afraid to report crimes or participate in daily life, the fabric of American society weakens. Even as the group called for stronger border controls, many stressed that enforcement should not come at the expense of community trust or basic dignity for people living in the country.
Border security remained a priority for almost everyone at the table, though participants differed on the means. Some advocated for a physical barrier along stretches of the southern frontier, arguing that a visible line helps reduce crossings between ports of entry and signals seriousness about law. Others argued for more judges, caseworkers, and legal aid to manage the flow of people seeking protection, saying better processing and clear rules would reduce chaos and the incentive to cross between checkpoints. In practice, several said, both steps would be needed: investments in infrastructure and personnel at the border, alongside legal pathways that reduce pressure on the system. The draft recommendations reflected that balancing act, pairing calls for tougher border management with expanded legal channels.
The roundtable also dwelled on the strain migrant arrivals have placed on local schools, hospitals, and shelters that were not expecting them. Participants from both parties said that communities like theirs needed more federal help to manage those pressures and avoid pitting long-time residents against new arrivals for limited resources. Suggestions ranged from additional federal grants to cities and counties facing sudden influxes, to state-level coordination on housing, to better information-sharing so families know where they can find work lawfully while they wait for hearings. Underpinning those proposals was a shared insistence that people be treated with compassion and that the United States remain a refuge for those fleeing persecution, a principle many in the room described as core to the country’s identity. For more on the legal standards and process for seeking refuge in the United States, the U.S. government provides an overview of asylum procedures.
Srivastava’s account, echoed by others who spoke of long waits and social stigma, gave the discussion a human edge. Her remarks prompted several participants who described themselves as security-focused to say that hearing directly from neighbors softened some of their skepticism about expanding legal options.
“I share these stories,” she said, explaining how personal accounts changed minds.
Her testimony also sharpened the group’s call to expand access to attorneys and caseworkers, so immigrants can navigate complex requirements without falling into procedural traps. Several attendees framed the issue as a simple capacity problem: the system processes too few cases too slowly, and people languish in limbo as a result.
Suozzi repeatedly stressed that the point of the immigration roundtable was not just to vent, but to produce specific ideas he could carry back to Washington. He said he would share the Manhasset group’s proposals with colleagues and press for bipartisan talks in the Problem Solvers Caucus.
“Those are all things I’m currently doing now in my immigration work,” he said when the group recapped its list, before adding that the unexpected level of agreement made him optimistic. “The most important thing is that it was very encouraging that a lot of people from different perspectives agreed with each other.”
He also encouraged participants to keep pushing their officials.
“The only way to get politicians to pay attention is to have more people interested and paying attention. We need more conversations like this, where Democrats and Republicans come together and go to their elected officials and say, ‘We want you to work together.’”
Braver Angels, which organized the event, plans to replicate the format in every congressional district—435 meetings in total—before consolidating the recommendations into a national list to present to Congress by early 2027. The Manhasset session served as a pilot, testing whether a structured, good-faith conversation can break through years of stalemate by grounding policy in practical fixes and lived experience. Organizers said the goal is to surface points of agreement that polling often obscures and to give members of Congress cover to support ideas that cross party lines. In this case, those ideas ranged from firm timelines on asylum cases to a measured pathway to citizenship for people who have built lives in the United States over at least five years.
Participants emphasized that granting legal status to adults who arrived as children—people often referred to in policy debates over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—should be settled by clear statute rather than relying on shifting executive actions and court rulings. They argued that adults who grew up in American schools, started careers here, and often care for U.S.-born siblings or children should have a transparent way to regularize their status. On temporary workers, the group urged the creation of a clear, seasonal system that matches visa numbers with real-world labor needs, reducing incentives for unauthorized work while giving businesses predictable access to employees.
The call to “secure the border” meant different things to different people in the room, but many tied it to predictable processing rather than only physical barriers. Several attendees said that when ports of entry have the capacity to receive and screen people efficiently, fewer will attempt to cross unlawfully. Faster initial screenings, more officers, and more immigration judges were cited as practical steps. At the same time, those in favor of a barrier argued that a physical deterrent remains necessary in remote areas. The draft recommendations did not attempt to settle that dispute fully; instead, they acknowledged it and prioritized resources for both management and enforcement, alongside the legal reforms the group supported.
The critique of ICE focused less on the legal authority to deport and more on how that authority is exercised. By describing current practices as “cruel” and “disruptive,” participants pointed to arrests at courthouses, actions that split families without notice, and the chilling effect those tactics have on cooperation with police. Suozzi, who is seeking a bipartisan path amid those concerns, warned that a community where immigrants fear reporting crimes or showing up for routine appointments is a community where criminals find it easier to operate. While the group did not draft a detailed enforcement policy, their impulse was clear: protect public safety without undermining trust.
For Suozzi, the political bet is that a tightly focused set of ideas—deliberately modest in some respects—can gather enough support to move through the House with backing from both parties. By carrying local proposals to the Problem Solvers Caucus, he is testing whether a bottom-up approach can unlock a debate that national leaders have repeatedly allowed to stall. The lawmaker told the group he will also urge other members of the caucus to hold similar sessions in their districts to build a larger pool of shared recommendations.
“The only way to get politicians to pay attention is to have more people interested and paying attention,” he told them, repeating his call for more citizen-led meetings that send a simple message to Congress: work together.
Braver Angels intends to combine those local lists into a single set of proposals by early 2027, giving lawmakers a concrete, citizen-vetted blueprint. If the Manhasset pilot is any guide, that blueprint will include commitments to speed up asylum decisions, add legal support so applicants can present their cases, bolster border capacity, and open a measured pathway for long-settled residents to transition into legal status and, in time, citizenship. It will likely also reflect the insistence—voiced by Democrats and Republicans alike in the Quaker Meeting House—that policies be built around humane treatment, not just numbers on a spreadsheet.
As the chairs in the meeting hall emptied, several participants lingered to exchange contact information and talk about next steps. The tone, they said, was different from a typical town hall: fewer stump speeches, more listening, and a shared sense that complex problems require mixed solutions. For Srivastava, whose words framed the personal stakes, the hope was that telling her story would help neighbors see past slogans.
“There is an unease that we are all living with,” she had told them.
By the end, those who favored stricter controls and those who pressed for new legal pathways said they recognized pieces of their own priorities in the emerging list.
Whether the proposals gain traction in Washington will depend on whether Suozzi and like-minded lawmakers can translate the roundtable’s spirit into legislative text without losing the bipartisan balance that made agreement possible in the first place. For now, the Manhasset meeting stands as an early test of a broader experiment: if a dozen people in a Long Island meeting house can draft shared solutions, might 435 such conversations build enough momentum to push Congress off dead center? Suozzi is betting yes—and he left with a list in hand and a promise to carry it back to the Capitol.
This Article in a Nutshell
Rep. Tom Suozzi hosted a bipartisan roundtable in Manhasset on October 24, 2025, organized by Braver Angels. About a dozen participants — immigrants and longtime residents — produced proposals emphasizing faster asylum adjudication, more legal assistance, strengthened border capacity, a pathway to citizenship after five years, legal status for those who arrived as children, and clearer temporary-worker rules. Attendees from both parties criticized ICE practices as disruptive. Braver Angels plans 435 meetings and will compile recommendations for Congress by early 2027.
