Indivisibles,

ICE is terrorizing our communities, violating our constitutional rights, and killing innocent people -- and the House just voted to give them more money. Yesterday, the House passed a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding for ICE. That increase comes with no meaningful restrictions or accountability measures to rein in ICE and Border Patrol.

We’re demanding Congress use the appropriations process to end ICE and Border Patrol’s lawlessness. This bill doesn’t just fall short -- it increases the funding for their brutality. But this fight isn’t over. 

The Senate will vote on the DHS appropriations bill next week -- and it cannot pass without Democratic votes. If you’re ready to take action, call your senators and demand they vote no on increased funding for ICE and Border Patrol.

Everything wrong with the DHS funding bill

❌ The bill increases funding for ICE. If this bill passes, ICE will receive $400 million more for detention and $370 million more for its enforcement budget compared to last year. That’s on top of the $170 billion allocated by Trump’s Big Ugly Bill for his mass deportation machine. ICE is using taxpayer dollars to kill people, invade homes without warrants, and threaten peaceful protestors. The last thing we should be doing is giving them more money to enable their cruelty. 

❌ The reforms included in the bill are completely inadequate. The bill allocates funding for body cameras, officer training, and the DHS Inspector General’s Office, but these measures fall far short of what we need to actually protect our communities. We’ve already seen what ICE thugs are willing to do on camera -- one filmed the killing of Renee Good on his own cellphone. And there’s no reason to think that giving the Trump regime more money to investigate itself will stop the violence unfolding in our streets. 

❌ Actual restrictions on ICE were left out. Congress can end Border Patrol deployments to our cities; restrict ICE and Border Patrol’s dragnet operations, racial profiling, and mass surveillance; and prevent these agencies from stealing funds from other programs to run their mass deportation machine. All of these provisions would have real impact on the ground, but none of them were included in this bill. 

There’s still time to act

The DHS funding bill will move to the Senate where we expect a vote next week. Reminder: the bill needs 60 votes to pass, which means Democrats have real leverage here. But they won’t use it unless we force them to. 

Atrociously, 7 House Democrats already voted yes on this bill (list here), and Chuck Schumer is not publicly whipping Senate Democrats to unify in opposition. With a vote on this bill coming next week, we need to act fast and be loud: 

1️⃣ Call your senators today and demand they vote no on the DHS funding bill. After you call, share our script with your family and friends and encourage them to call too. 

2️⃣ Email your senators in opposition to more ICE funding. Calls are more effective than emails, but if you are unable to call or want to call and email, we make it easy to reach your senators instantly. 

3️⃣ Read and share our updated explainer. This fight is complicated and changing quickly, so we’ve updated our explainer and added a section on frequently asked questions.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team

P.S. -- Today is the ICE Out of Minnesota Day of Truth and Freedom. Minnesotans are coming together in moral reflection and action to stand together against ICE -- and folks are showing up in solidarity across the country. Click here to find a local event near you and take action to pressure corporations to stand up to ICE.