A country that breaks its word to the people who bled for our soldiers is a country that has lost something essential about itself.
If you believe we owe these families more than limbo in Qatar or a one-way ticket to a war zone, join us:
Varelaforcongress.com/volunteer
The interpreter who saved your patrol. The special operator who had your back on raids. Their wives. Their kids.
We told them we'd protect them. We're walking away.
This is why I'm running.
Roughly 190,000 Afghans who aided the U.S. effort have been resettled here since 2021.
We have the infrastructure to do this. We've done it at scale. The vetting systems exist.
Every American service member who served in Afghanistan knows what this means.
The DRC is in the middle of one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet.
Active fighting with Rwanda. Refugee camps under attack. Over 600,000 refugees already inside its borders that it cannot support.
That's the destination being offered.
Now the Trump administration is reportedly in talks to send as many as 1,100 of them to the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the NYT.
The other path being floated: back to Afghanistan, under the Taliban that wants them dead for helping us.
They were told Qatar was a stopover.
A few weeks there, and then resettlement in the U.S. after more vetting.
That was late 2024.
They're still there.
Right now, about 1,100 of these Afghan allies are stuck in a former U.S. military base in Qatar.
Over 400 of them are children.
They were evacuated for their safety because helping American forces put a Taliban target on their backs.
We made a promise to the Afghans who fought alongside our troops.
Interpreters. Special Operations soldiers. Family members of American service members.
Trump is about to break that promise in a way that should make every veteran in this country sick.
I had an amazing time at the Rally in Andover yesterday! It was great to see so many people speaking up for Sussex County and what they believe in. I will continue to stand with residents of Andover and Sussex County to make sure their voices are heard!
I had an amazing time knocking doors in Roxbury yesterday! Every day as I continue to knock on doors, I get more excited about the energy and momentum we are building among voters. I will be back in Roxbury soon!
Happy Earth Day! Protecting our environment and water is so important and something I’ll always fight for in Congress. Tom Kean Jr. cast the deciding vote to cut crucial clean energy funding, and I’ll fight back. Many thanks to all the environmental champions in NJ-7 for their crucial work.
This race isn’t about promises—it’s about what you’ve actually done. I’ve been committed to this district before running for office, and I’m ready to keep fighting for it.
Honored to earn the endorsement of @emgageaction.bsky.social! They recognize my commitment to defending human rights and opposing endless wars and that my priority is to serve all people, regardless of race or religion. Thanks to Emgage for their support—excited to work together to flip this seat!
I'm running for Congress because the people of NJ-07 deserve a representative who will say it out loud and then do something about it.
Here is my plan to put some actual compassion into our eldercare system: varelaforcongress.com/eldercare
Medicare won't cover long-term care. Medicaid requires poverty. Private insurance has collapsed. And most of us will need this care.
Families find out too late because nobody in power wants to say there is an eldercare crisis out loud.
It collapsed.
In 2000, insurers sold 585,000 long-term care policies. In 2023, 35,000.
The carriers that stayed hit elderly policyholders with premium hikes of up to 179% in a single year.
So here's where we actually are.
One caregiver told Congress he paid over $1 million in long-term care for his wife, wiping out the retirement savings he'd worked his whole life to build.
That story is not rare. It's the system working as designed.
The private insurance market was supposed to prevent this.
The family home can be clawed back after death through estate recovery.
Middle-class families who saved responsibly have to deliberately impoverish themselves to get their parents into care.
To qualify, you have to spend down to $2,000 in assets.
Two thousand dollars to your name. After a lifetime of work.
Any assets transferred in the previous 5 years trigger a penalty period.
Medicare does not cover long-term care.
Not nursing homes. Not assisted living. Not help bathing or dressing or eating.
The program you paid into your whole working lives specifically excludes the kind of care most of us will actually need.
Families who can't pay are told to apply for Medicaid...
56% of adults over 65 will need long-term care in their lifetimes.
And 58% think Medicare will pay for it.
But they don't find out the truth until it's too late.
Working people don’t need more promises—they need results. Families are dealing with rising costs every day, and they deserve leadership that understands that reality and is ready to do something about it.
We had a great canvass launch in Hackettstown yesterday—a little rain can’t keep Team Varela away! Democrats win when we organize everywhere, including in red-leaning counties like Warren. I’ll be back soon!
I had a fantastic time at our meet and greet in Sparta yesterday! Many thanks to Dana Gulino for being a great host, and for so many people who attended and asked good questions. Democrats can't ignore places like Sussex County if we want to win in November. I'll be back soon!
Spent Saturday across NJ! First, I spoke to AFT-NJ members. Next, I connected with folks at Lantern Hill in New Providence. Retiring in dignity has gotten too difficult and expensive, which is why I just released my elder care policy (varelaforcongress.com/eldercare). We ended the day in Flemington
I have a plan to make that happen, with an emphasis on maintaining continuity of care as we show Wall Street the door. Check it out here: varelaforcongress.com/eldercare
Seniors pay six figures a year. Workers live on poverty wages.
And the money goes to private equity firms, real estate trusts, and bondholders who have never changed a single bedpan.
We need to ban Private Equity and Real Estate Investment Trusts from owning eldercare facilities.
Frontline nursing hours drop after a PE buyout.
Residents at PE-owned facilities are 50% more likely to be put on antipsychotic drugs, because sedated patients need fewer workers.
Short-term patient mortality rises ~10%.
This is what a rigged market looks like.
Next is the cash extraction.
Operating cash at acquired facilities drops sharply. Money gets pulled out to investors before it reaches the floor.
During COVID, PE-owned nursing homes couldn't afford PPE.
And to make the math work, they cut staff.
Then there's the debt.
PE firms buy these facilities with borrowed money and saddle the nursing home with the loan. Interest payments more than triple after acquisition.
Your loved one's care is now servicing somebody's leveraged buyout.
