Padilla Rises as Senate Democratic Voice After Immigration Clash

Until recently, Sen. Alex Padilla was one of the least recognizable and less divisive members in a chamber increasingly filled with lawmakers who relish partisan warfare.

But in the months since President Donald Trump took office, Padilla, the senior Democratic senator from the nation’s most populous state, has landed squarely in the center of some of the most heated political battles.

Padilla drew national attention when federal agents forced him to the ground and handcuffed him as he sought to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during her June press conference on government efforts to crack down on immigration ...