Congress’s hypocrisy revealed: Leaders release plans for $30 billion more for mass detention and deportations as Congress votes on additional $70 billion for ICE and Border Patrol.
The following is a statement by 107 national and state/local organizations:
The Trump administration continues to urge the passage of a partisan reconciliation package of $70 billion for its mass detention and deportation agenda, claiming the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will not receive annual funding through the normal appropriations process for the next three years. The Senate is expected to vote on this measure today. However, the House Appropriations Committee just released a bill to fund DHS through the fiscal year 2027 that would give Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) $10.1 billion and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) $18.3 billion, invalidating the already spurious justification for the current reconciliation bill.
There is no end to ICE’s greed and waste of taxpayer funds. Americans are increasingly struggling to make ends meet while Congress works to pour billions of dollars into this administration’s cruel anti-immigrant agenda. Congress must not give $70 billion more to ICE and CBP, particularly while pursuing nearly $30 billion more in annual funding for these agencies which are still sitting on $100 billion taxpayer funds from last summer’s reconciliation bill.
Sending another blank check to ICE makes a mockery of the affordability crisis Americans face. In addition to killing protestors with impunity, ICE is currently retaliating against hundreds of detained immigrants leading labor and hunger strikes at Delaney Hall and Adelanto to protest inhumane and deadly conditions in ICE detention. More money for ICE and CBP will only lead to more suffering and death. Congress must reset its priorities: all American families deserve to be able to afford their basic needs and immigrants deserve to live in our communities without the threat of government violence.
This statement has been endorsed by the following organizations:
National:
Acacia Center for Justice
The AIDS Institute
Alianza Americas
Alliance for a Just Society
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
ASISTA Immigration Assistance
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Victims of Torture
Church World Service
Coalition on Human Needs
Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP)
Democracy Power Project
Detention Watch Network
Endangered Species Coalition
Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM)
Families For Freedom
First Focus Campaign for Children
Freedom for Immigrants
Freedom Network USA
Haitian Bridge Alliance
HIAS
Human Rights First
Humanitarian Outreach for Migrant Emotional Health (H.O.M.E.)
Immigrant Defense Project
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)
Immigration Law & Justice Network
Impact Fund
Indivisible
International Refugee Assistance Project
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Just Detention International
Justice + Joy National Collaborative
Lawyers for Good Government
Muslim Advocates
Muslims for Just Futures
National Center for Youth Law
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Law Center
National Immigration Project
National Partnership for New Americans
National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
National Women’s Law Center Action Fund
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK)
Public Citizen
Refugee Council USA
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC)
Tahirih Justice Center
Tsuru for Solidarity
UnidosUS
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
United Parent Leaders Action Network
Vera Institute of Justice
Veterans For American Ideals
Voices for Progress
Voto Latino
We Are CASA
Welcome With Dignity Campaign
Witness at the Border
Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights
State/Local:
Asian Counseling and Referral Service
Ayuda
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action Pittsburgh
Central American Resource Center – CARECEN of Northern California
El Centro
Church Council of Greater Seattle
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
Colorado For Immigrant Rights
Communities for Our Colleges
CRLA Foundation
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
Home is Here NOLA
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef)
Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western Mass
Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW
Jewish Community Action
Latino Community Fund of Washington State
Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice
Long Island Immigrant Justice Alliance
Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention
Make the Road Pennsylvania
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
Miami Valley Immigration Coalition
Michigan Immigrant Rights Center
Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project
OneAmerica
ORALE: Organizing Rooted in Abolition, Liberation and Empowerment
Orange County Rapid Response Network
Organized Communities Against Deportations
Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition
SEIU 775
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN)
Sueños Sin Fronteras de Tejas
Transformations CDC
Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Working Washington
805undocufund