Stephen Colbert cheers on Alex Padilla's bill that would make illegal immigrants citizens

Stephen Colbert told Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., that he hopes the senator is successful in getting citizenship for illegal immigrants, in spite of the "brutality and cruelty" of President Donald Trump's administration. 

Padilla, who was detained in June after rushing a press conference with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, said that he introduced a bill called "updating the registry" to give illegal immigrants citizenship on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" on Thursday. 

"What tends to get lost in the conversation are the millions of people who not just are here in the United States, who have been here in the United States for years if not decades, paying taxes, raising families, otherwise law-abiding, no criminal conviction or history," Padilla said. 

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"They deserve a way to come out of the shadows and take a step towards legal status and so, surprise, surprise, I have a bill. It's called 'Updating the registry,'" he added. "As a registry law that's been on the books for almost a century with a deadline that has been a moving target over the last 100 years, last updated under Republican president Ronald Reagan, that says if you've been here for seven years or longer, you've paid your taxes, no conviction, et cetera, a few other requirements, you should be able to register and move towards legal status. So I introduced a bill to do just that."

Colbert, whose show will be canceled in May 2026, said he agreed with Padilla, and asked him if he was hopeful the bill would get through the Senate. 

"I'm hopeful because it's not just me that has called out this administration for being extreme and overreaching, the public polling, the American people know that this is wrong and an abuse of power when even Steven Scalise from Louisiana, the number two Republican in the house, says there's got to be a better way, I'm hoping and praying that things are shifting just enough," Padilla said. 

"That would be wonderful," Colbert agreed. "Because I think people who love our country - this is a beautiful country. I love our country, but it breaks my heart to see that the overt policy of the administration is brutality and cruelty."

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Earlier in the conversation, they discussed how Padilla was detained by police in June after he attempted to interrupt Noem's press conference. 

"I want to point out, it took three guys to take you down," Colbert said, and followed up by asking Padilla more about what happened. 

"I identified myself, the whole reason I was there - I'm a senator, I have oversight responsibility," Padilla said. "I had questions hoping for more information and there we saw what happened when I tried to ask the question but as I've been saying every day since that press conference, what happened to me - it's not about me. I think about what this administration is doing to so many people across the country, but especially in California right now with the obsession they have with this mass deportation agenda when the reality is - we know this from ICE statistics, the vast majority of people being arrested, being detained, being deported, are the same people that so many families trust to care for our children."