Long Island Rep. Laura Gillen vows to fight Trump from halls of Congress at town hall

Bewildered and often angry constituents have packed town halls seeking answers about President Donald Trump's many unprecedented acts since returning to office.

Wednesday night it was Long Island's turn.

U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) hosted the town hall, the first such event in-person by a member of the Island's congressional contingent at Hofstra University, where a large crowd crammed into a theater at the campus' David S. Mack Student Center.

By this time, almost three months to the day since Trump's inauguration, the top of mind issues for attendees Wednesday night were familiar: the president's seesaw tariff plan that has roiled global markets and evaporated chunks of 401(k)s; his aggressive efforts to close down America's borders, the future of Social Security and Medicaid:  and proposed sweeping cuts to the federal government in the form of jobs, programs and national treasures like parks and forests. A proposed bill in the Republican-controlled House would amount to a massive cut to Medicaid over the next decade.

David Discenza, 70, of East Meadow, seemed to sum up what many others in the mostly civil and respectful audience seated in the theater were thinking.

"Where does it stop?" Discenza asked of Trump administration actions aimed at deporting people in the country illegally. "How do we stop him?" 

Like several other attendees, he submitted questions in writing for Gillen.

The town hall follows several others in House and Senate districts in recent months where constituents across the country have confronted their elected leaders about the president's actions. U.S. Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) have opted to host virtual town halls.

After several of the town halls became raucous and even led to police getting involved, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee reportedly ordered elected leaders to opt for virtual town halls, Newsday previously reported.

Trump and his administration have said the wide-ranging tariffs are an effective way to get better trade deals for the United States and American companies. Separately, the Republican-controlled House has proposed $880 billion in cuts to the federal department overseeing Medicaid as part of a plan to cut taxes.

In response to a written question on immigration and deportation, Gillen said: "We have an administration who is doing things outside of court orders."

Gillen added that she will "fight in the halls of Congress" to uphold the principles of separation for the three branches of federal government.

Halfway through the event a man in the audience began booing and shouting at Gillen after she spoke about her support of the Laken Riley Act, named for the Georgia college student killed by a man in the country illegally. Security officers escorted him out of the event and Gillen continued speaking.

At another point, the House member said she will be "pushing back" against any attempt to cut Medicaid.

"There’s no way that can be done without cutting Medicaid," Gillen said. "They can say no cuts have happened yet, but right now we’ve moved into appropriations, and we’re going to see just how they are going to propose to make these cuts ... We will be pushing back against this bill."

Before Gillen took the stage, some in the audience, like Rhonda Eisenberg, 75, of Baldwin, expressed concerns about the Trump administration's deportation of an immigrant to a brutal El Salvadoran prison after an admitted administrative error.

"I think shipping somebody to El Salvador and then refusing to bring them back when you admitted that they were sent there incorrectly is a very scary thing," Eisenberg said.

Dorothy Cush, of Freeport, said she attended the town hall because of her concern over efforts aimed at dismantling the Department of Education.

"I don’t want to sit back and be one of those people who tells my grandchildren I should have, could have, would have," said Cush, 67. "Our system is not perfect, but it’s perfect for us because we can always make it better. That’s why I’m out here, to make ... our democracy better."