Special Report

These Are the 29 Members of Congress Born Outside the United States

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President Donald Trump stepped into the simmering battle between newly elected progressive Democrats and establishment Democrats on Sunday, in a series of tweets bordering on xenophobia, suggesting that freshman progressive Democrats “…go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

Though he did not mention them by name, the president was apparently aiming his tweets at freshman Democratic congresswomen of color: Alexandra  Ocasio-Cortez, New York; Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Michigan; Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota; and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts. Of the four, only Omar was foreign-born, coming to the United States from Somalia. The four women have been among the most vocal critics of the administration’s handling of the border crisis — and a symbol of the Trump Administration’s fractious relationship with Congress. These are the presidents with the best and worst relationships with the Congress.

Omar is one of 29 congressional members who were born outside of the United States —  24 representatives and five senators. Twenty-five are Democrats and four are Republicans. This total represents members who were either born outside of the United States to parents from another country or those born in another country to American parents.

There are 14 congressional members who were born outside of the United States, all of whom are Democrats, who became U.S. citizens. Thirteen of the 14 members of Congress born outside of the United States to non-American parents serve in the House of Representatives. Three of them are from Mexico — Salud Carbajal and Raul Ruiz (California) and Jesus Garcia (Illinois), and two are from India — Raja Krishnamoorthi (Illinois) and Pramila Jayapal (Washington). Other congressional members were born in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Taiwan, Poland, Ecuador, Vietnam, and Guatemala.

The lone senator born outside of the United States to parents who are not American is Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, who was born in Japan. There are four other senators who were born in other countries to American parents.

Some members of the president’s cabinet were also born in foreign countries, including the Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, who was born in Taiwan, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie, who was born in Germany. It is also worth noting that the president’s wife Melania was born in Slovenia and is the first first lady born outside of the United States since Louisa Catherine Adams, the wife of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president.

Members of Congress Born Outside the United States

Politician Country/place of birth Party Position
Adriano Espaillat Dominican Republic Democratic Rep. from New York
Albio Sires Cuba Democratic Rep. from New Jersey
Chris Van Hollen Pakistan Democratic Senator from Maryland
Dan Crenshaw United Kingdom Republican Rep. from Texas
David Rouzer West Germany Republican Rep. from North Carolina
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell Ecuador Democratic Rep. from Florida
Diana DeGette Japan Democratic Rep. from Colorado
Don Beyer Trieste Democratic Rep. from Virginia
Don McEachin West Germany Democratic Rep. from Virginia
Ilhan Omar Somalia Democratic Rep. from Minnesota
Jesús “Chuy” García Mexico Democratic Rep. from Illinois
Jim Himes Peru Democratic Rep. from Connecticut
Mark Meadows France Republican Rep. from North Carolina
Mazie Hirono Japan Democratic Senator from Hawaii
Michael F. Bennet India Democratic Senator from Colorado
Norma J. Torres Guatemala Democratic Rep. from California
Pramila Jayapal India Democratic Rep. from Washington
Raja Krishnamoorthi India Democratic Rep. from Illinois
Raul Ruiz Mexico Democratic Rep. from California
Salud Carbajal Mexico Democratic Rep. from California
Sean Casten Ireland Democratic Rep. from Illinois
Sean Patrick Maloney Canada Democratic Rep. from New York
Sharice Davids Germany Democratic Rep. from Kansas
Stephanie Murphy Vietnam Democratic Rep. from Florida
Susan Wild West Germany Democratic Rep. from Pennsylvania
Tammy Duckworth Thailand Democratic Senator from Illinois
Ted Lieu Taiwan Democratic Rep. from California
Ted Rafael E. Cruz Canada Republican Senator from Texas
Tom Malinowski Poland Democratic Rep. from New Jersey

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