The undersigned organizations advocate for the human rights of immigrant communities and for a fair, functioning and humane immigration system. We urge Members of Congress to ensure that the FY2024 spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security does not increase funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention beyond FY2023’s already high levels.
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Immigration detention is part of a deterrent-oriented approach to immigration policy that imposes punishing conditions of confinement on people navigating the immigration adjudication system. As decades of data show, increasing the use of detention does not in any way solve the challenges at the border nor does it impact the number of people coming to seek safety in the United States.
ICE’s detention system consists of a network of more than 100 private prisons and county jails where abuses are rampant, including an increasing use of solitary confinement, and oversight mechanisms are severely compromised. Last year ICE itself identified at least nine facilities that require immediate closure or downsizing due to unsafe conditions and egregious violations, but nevertheless most remain open today. Expanding immigration detention will endanger the lives and safety of thousands and cost taxpayers millions.
ICE currently receives $2.8 billion in funding at FY2023 levels to detain approximately 34,000 people daily. ICE is currently detaining around 39,000 people daily, regularly over-spending their congressionally approved appropriated funds. It is irresponsible for Congress to reward ICE’s chronic disregard for its appropriated budget. Historically, the only time ICE has been funded to detain more than 34,000 people daily was during the four years of the Trump administration. The White House’s budget requests for FY2023 and FY2024 sought funding for an average of 25,000 daily detention beds.
With cuts being considered across the entirety of the federal government, we urge Congress to direct funds toward the critical needs of all people, not toward expanded incarceration.
Acacia Center for Justice
Afghans For A Better Tomorrow
African Communities Together (ACT)
AFSC Colorado
Alianza Americas
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Americans for Immigrant Justice
Amnesty International USA
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Ayuda
Bend the Arc
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action - California
Border Network for Human Rights
Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network (BIJAN)
California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ)
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance
Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition
Carolina Migrant Network
Casa Freehold
Casa San Jose
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Center for Law and Social Policy
Center for Victims of Torture
Central American Resource Center - CARECEN- of California
Children at Risk
Church World Service
CIMA (Compañeros Inmigrantes de las Montañas en Acción)
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
Coalition on Human Needs
Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP)
Community Justice Exchange - National Bail Fund Network
Conversations with Friends (Minnesota)
Detention Watch Network
Democratic Women of Kern
DIRE Legal Services
Dolores Street Community Services
Drug Policy Alliance
El Vínculo Hispano
Emmaus Community
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Faith in New Jersey
Faith in Texas
Faithful Friends
Families For Freedom
Fayetteville Police Accountability Community Taskforce
First Friends of New Jersey & New York
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
Florida Immigrant Coalition
Food Justice DMV
Free Migration Project
Freedom for Immigrants
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Global Refuge
Haiti Solidarity Network of the North East
Haitian Bridge Alliance
H-CAN Immigration & Refugees Action Group
HIAS Pennsylvania
Human Rights First
Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Immigration Equality
Immigration Equality Action Fund
Immigration Hub
Indivisible
Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Innovation Law Lab
Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA)
Interfaith Movement 4 Human Integrity
International Detention Coalition (IDC)
International Rescue Committee
Latin America Working Group
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA)
Make the Road NY
Marianist Social Justice Immigration Team
Mariposa Legal, program of COMMON Foundation
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
Minnesota Freedom Fund
Movement for Justice in El Barrio
Movimiento Cosecha - New Jersey
Muslim Advocates
Muslims for Just Futures
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
National Employment Law Project
National Immigrant Justice Center
National Immigration Law Center
National Immigration Project
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
National Partnership for New Americans
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice
New Jersey Forum for Human Rights
New Mexico Dream Team
New York Immigration Coalition
NorCal Resist
Oasis Legal Services
ORALE: Organizing Rooted in Abolition, Liberation, and Empowerment
Pangea Legal Services
Pax Christi New Jersey
Pennsylvania Immigrant and Citizenship Coalition
Project ANAR
Public Counsel
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
SAMI
Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN)
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Justice Team
SOLACE San Diego
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC)
T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
Tahirih Justice Center
Tarjimly
The Advocates for Human Rights
The Bronx Defenders
The Episcopal Church
The Mami Chelo Foundation, INC
The Welcoming Center
Tsuru for Solidarity
UndocuBlack Network
Unidad Latina en Accion NJ
Union for Reform Judaism
United We Dream
Vera Institute of Justice
Voces Unidas RGV
Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
Witness at the Border
Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Right
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