LWVUS joined a letter to Congress opposing additional funding for ICE and Border Patrol and urging that a DHS appropriations bill have immigration enforcement restraints and accountability.
January 14, 2026
Dear Members of Congress,
Masked federal agents are unleashing violence and chaos in our cities and neighborhoods. Agents shot and
killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a mother, wife and widow of a military veteran, on January 7 in
Minneapolis, MN. Just a day later, agents shot two people in Portland, OR.
We, the undersigned civil rights and human rights organizations, call on you to say enough is enough.
Congress must rein in the violence and lawlessness endangering our communities. Specifically, we ask that
you refuse to increase funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, and
that you demand that any appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security restrains and requires accountability from immigration enforcement agencies.
Last year, Congress gave the Department of Homeland Security a windfall of $170 billion dollars to
supersize its deportation force and detention network. Congressional funding enabled DHS to become what
it is today: a dangerous agency operating with impunity. Masked federal agents, equipped for war, are
dragging people from their cars, zip-tying children, firing tear gas at high schoolers, and pointing guns at
peaceful observers and protestors. They are setting up checkpoints in our cities and detaining people based
on the color of their skin, their language or accent, or where they happen to be. By design, these actions
terrorize and wreak havoc. They tear at the seams of our families, our communities, and our safety. They
poison our democracy and our way of life. This is not the America we deserve, nor the one our laws or
Constitution allow.
Congress should use its Article I power to limit these out-of-control agencies and require that they serve
the public, not terrorize communities with impunity. Accordingly, we call on you to, at a minimum:
1. Refuse to vote for any FY2026 appropriations bill that includes increased funding for ICE or Border
Patrol, including funds for detention. The existing system allowed 32 people to die in custody in 2025,
the deadliest year ever, while thousands of others suffer physical and sexual abuse, medical neglect,
and degrading conditions.
2. Refuse to vote for any appropriations bill for DHS beyond January 30 unless it:
a. Strengthens restrictions on ICE and Border Patrol’s ability to conduct dragnet arrest operations
and target people based on their race, language or accent, place of employment, or location at
the time of the apprehension;
b. Ends border patrol deployment to our cities and rejects its ever-expanding mandate in
immigration enforcement; and
c. Limits DHS's reprogramming and transfer authority, including specifically preventing
reprogramming and transferring funds for detention.
These are the bare minimum reforms needed to start protecting our communities from the escalating and
violent operations. We urge you to act decisively and show DHS and the communities you serve that the
cruelty and lawlessness we have seen is unacceptable, and it ends now.
Sincerely,
See Attached for List of Signatories