Dear John,

One week ago, Renee Good died during an immigration enforcement operation in her own community. The shooting didn’t happen in a vacuum. Rather, her killing is the direct result of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda—one that prioritizes speed and numbers over safety, due process, and human life.

A new report from the American Immigration Council, Immigration Detention Expansion in Trump’s Second Term, shows how this agenda is fueling a historic expansion of immigration detention, accompanied by changes in enforcement tactics which have transformed American cities into conflict zones. Hundreds of thousands of people—increasingly more likely to have no criminal record at all—are being locked into a harsh system designed to make it impossible to fight their cases or secure release. The administration is pouring billions of dollars into immigration detention not to improve public safety, but to pressure people into giving up their rights and accepting deportation.

The report documents a system spiraling out of control: changes in arrest tactics which target populations with deep ties to their communities, detention at the highest level in U.S. history, policies designed to trap people in the detention and deportation machine, and worsening conditions which have led to more deaths in detention than the previous four years combined.

Learn more about what’s happening, why it matters, and what’s at stake for our nation.

As the system grows, we will continue to see firsthand how its harm extends deep into our communities. Renee Good’s death should never have happened—and without accountability, it will not be the last.

Sincerely,
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
Senior Fellow, American Immigration Council

P.S. We’re hosting a webinar to dig into the findings of this report and what the expansion of immigration detention means for people, families, and communities nationwide. Join us for a closer look at the data—and what comes next.