Immigration, medicaid and the so-called 'Big, Beautiful Bill' are on top of seniors' minds at Rep. Jennifer McClellan's town hall

To kick off connecting with her district during recess, Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., hosted a town hall geared toward seniors today. Around 60 attendees discussed their concerns about Social Security, Medicare, immigration and the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. 

“I call it the ‘One Big Ugly Bill,’ ‘The Big, Massive Frankenstein,’ whatever you want to call it,” McClellan said. “The bill that was signed on July 4. There’s a lot in there, and I’m not going to touch on every aspect of it.”

McClellan listed the changes to Medicaid and the rescission package’s public broadcasting cuts as two issues that will affect the audience. She also alleged that her office is having difficulties getting in touch with the correct staff members at federal agencies such as the Social Security Administration because of cuts by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

While they were directed to keep their questions geared toward senior issues, audience members asked about immigration more than any other subject — specifically expressing concerns about how deportations and immigration raids are being handled. McClellan’s responses condemning the Trump administration’s handling of immigration were some of the only responses to elicit applause.

“I hope that when we enforce our immigration policy, whether it’s who we detain, who we deport, that we do so consistent with American values of due process and compassion,” she said. 

After the town hall, McClellan discussed the frequency of the immigration questions with NBC News, and she said she did expect that to be a reoccurring topic. 

“There’s been so much ICE activity here in Chesterfield County that’s impacted people of all ages, and I think that is people of all walks of life, have shown, have reached out and said they’re concerned about it,” McClellan said. 

Roz Faines is one of those attendees who brought up immigration.

“It is not a United States of America that I know and have ever known,” Faines said. 

McClellan told NBC News she hopes her Democratic colleagues prioritize listening when meeting with their constituents throughout August.

“We need to meet them where they are to talk to them about the work that’s going on in Washington. Good, bad and ugly,” she said.