John, in the past week alone, the world has witnessed the murder of Alex Pretti at the hands of Border Patrol agents and the abduction of five-year-old asylum seeker Liam Ramos in Minneapolis, and learned that ICE officers choked Geraldo Campos Lunas to death inside ICE’s East Montana Detention Center at Fort Bliss, Texas. 53 people have died in DHS custody since Trump took office, 6 of those in ICE custody just this past month. With the death toll mounting at the hands of ICE and Border Patrol, it is past time for Congress to intervene and block any additional funding for these agencies. The Senate is voting THIS WEEK on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, which would give even more money to expand the deadly immigration detention and deportation system. They need to hear from YOU. |
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Here are 2 things you can do right now: - Send a message through our online form telling your members of Congress to stop funding ICE’s deadly detention expansion & mass arrests!
- CALL your members of Congress to make sure they hear you! Call the capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senators. When you're connected to their office, you can use this call script:
"Hello, my name is [your name], and as a constituent I urge [Senator's name] to oppose any legislation that expands immigration detention and gives ICE or Border Patrol more money to detain and harm our community members. Our communities deserve investment in health, education, and programs that benefit everyone’s well-being, and giving more money to ICE and CBP is unconscionable right now." |
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Last summer, Congress shelled out a windfall of $170 billion to DHS to supersize its deportation and detention force. ICE is already locking up a record number of community members, leading to more deaths in detention than ever before, and ICE and Border Patrol agents' escalating violence against our communities has led to tragedies like the horrific murders in Minnesota. Now is the time to oppose new contracts for massive new detention centers, including for families with children, and stop funneling billions of dollars to private prison contractors. Congress must put an end to the militarized operations by masked agents targeting longtime residents, children, and U.S. citizens and oppose any funding proposals that would further fuel a system of mass incarceration that is causing irreversible harm to our country. Our communities deserve investment in health, education, and programs that benefit everyone’s well-being, NOT in mass round ups and incarceration. Right now, members of Congress have the power to reject this harmful expansion and demand accountability instead of giving ICE and Border Patrol a blank check to detain and harm our neighbors and community members. We can stop this—but only if members of Congress hear from constituents like you right now. TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW to tell your members of Congress to stop funding ICE’s deadly detention expansion and mass arrests! |
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Thank you for speaking up to protect our communities. -Jesse Franzblau
Associate Director of Policy, National Immigrant Justice Center |
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