Hi friend,
I hope you are doing well ahead of this holiday week. Today, I wanted to reach out about housing affordability in the Hudson Valley, fighting back against ICE overreach, the latest on the Epstein files, and more. Thank you so much for being in this fight with me.
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What’s going on
Hudson Valley
What I’m doing: One of the most inspiring projects in our region is moving forward in Port Jervis, where ten new tiny homes are being built to house veterans who have fallen into homelessness. These homes are being constructed by students in the Orange–Ulster BOCES carpentry program — young people learning real, hands-on skills while giving back to those who served our country. I was proud to secure a $1 million federal grant to help make the Rumshock Veterans Village possible, because no veteran should be without a roof over their head in the nation they risked their lives to defend.
This project is the very best of the Hudson Valley. Veterans, students, local leaders, contractors, and community members all stepping up together. When government invests in people instead of cutting them out, when we build community instead of tearing it down, this is what we can achieve.
What you can do: Rumshock is still looking for volunteers and donations as construction continues. If you want to support veterans directly, this is a powerful way to do it. They’ll soon need home goods, furniture, appliances, and volunteers for on-site finishing work. Keep spreading the word about this incredible project. The more people who know about this effort, the stronger it will grow, and the faster we can make sure every veteran in our region has a safe and stable place to call home.
New York
What I’m doing: I’ve continued to push hard for the release of Ali Faqirzada, a Bard College student and Afghan ally who has now been detained by ICE for more than a month. Ali followed every step of the legal process. He built a life here in Ulster County. He enrolled in Bard’s Baccalaureate program. And he stood with our troops in Afghanistan at great personal risk.
Countless community leaders have joined the call for Ali’s release. Ali’s asylum hearing was pushed off the calendar when ICE transferred him across state lines, and his legal team is now fighting through federal court with amended filings and emergency motions.
While I’ll continue to monitor this closely as it progresses in court, it’s yet another betrayal by the Trump Administration of those who have risked their lives for our freedoms.
What you can do: Keep Ali’s story alive. The more attention this gets, the harder it is for ICE to ignore. Share updates with your networks, post on social media, and talk with friends and neighbors about what’s happening. If you know veterans or community leaders who want to help, encourage them to speak out too. When our community stands together, we save lives — and we can help bring Ali home.
Washington
What I’m doing: The Epstein files must be released, fully and transparently. Survivors deserve justice, and the American people deserve the truth. I co-sponsored bipartisan legislation demanding the release of all unclassified files, and I signed on to efforts in the House to force a vote when leadership tried to bury this. Now the bill has passed, but the Justice Department is still dragging its feet and hiding behind loopholes.
Let’s be honest about what’s going on. Trump had months where he could have ordered the Attorney General to release these files. He didn’t. Now they’re trying to use new “investigations” and technicalities to keep the public in the dark and protect the powerful. I’m using every tool we have in Congress to make sure this doesn’t get watered down into another half-release full of blacked-out pages and old news. No special rules for billionaires and elites. No burying evidence because it’s inconvenient for the powerful.
What you can do: If you’re outside NY-18, call your member of Congress and tell them you expect them to back full transparency, not carve-outs for the well-connected. Do not let Trump wiggle out of this. The more the public insists on sunlight, the harder it becomes for anyone in power to hide. This is a test of whether we’re a nation of laws or a nation where the rich and powerful always find a way out.
Going on offense
Trump has broken his promises, sold out our veterans, and betrayed the American people over and over again. More and more people are waking up to that each day. I’m confident that if we, the Patriotic Majority, keep the pressure on, then we can build a real movement for change. But we need to continue that work every day—in Congress and in local communities. We can do this.
Keep the faith, keep up the fight, and thank you for reading!
In Solidarity,
Pat
