1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

The MELT Act of 2025 (Migrant Enforcement Liquidation and Termination Act) To abolish and defund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and hold the United States accountable to its constitutional and international human rights obligations. ⸻ SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the “Migrant Enforcement Liquidation and Termination Act” or the “MELT Act of 2025.” ⸻ SECTION 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds: 1. Since its creation in 2003, ICE has repeatedly violated constitutional protections, including due process (Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments) and the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. 2. Under the Trump administration, ICE’s practices grew increasingly brutal: family separation, indefinite detention, denial of medical care, and retaliatory solitary confinement. Notably, administration officials proposed surrounding a detention facility with a moat of alligators—dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”—a symbolic embodiment of the cruelty and absurdity that defined immigration policy during this period. 3. These actions violated U.S. obligations under international law, including: • The Geneva Conventions; • The UN Refugee Convention; • The Convention Against Torture; • The Nuremberg Principles, which hold that inhumane treatment of civilians may constitute crimes against humanity. 4. ICE has inflicted widespread harm while failing to significantly improve national security, making its continued existence indefensible. ⸻ SECTION 3. ABOLITION OF ICE. (a) Dissolution Timeline. Within 180 days, ICE shall cease operations, close all detention facilities, and end all deportation and surveillance activity. (b) Personnel Transition. ICE staff may accept severance, retraining, or reassignment to non-enforcement civilian roles. (c) Facility Closure. Detention centers with records of abuse shall be permanently shut down, with sites considered for public memorials to victims. ⸻ SECTION 4. ACCOUNTABILITY COMMISSION. An independent commission shall: • Investigate civil and human rights abuses committed by ICE, especially during 2017–2021; • Gather survivor testimony and refer criminal findings to federal and international bodies; • Recommend reparations and legal remedies for those harmed. ⸻ SECTION 5. REINVESTMENT AND JUST IMMIGRATION. Former ICE funding will support: • Legal aid and asylum support; • Community-based housing, trauma services, and language access; • A Migrant Reparations Fund for families harmed by ICE policy. ⸻ SECTION 6. FUTURE AGENCY BAN. No similar enforcement agency may be created without a two-thirds Congressional vote and independent human rights review. ⸻ SECTION 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect immediately.