1. United States
2. Ind.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to support Congressman Shri Thanedar's Abolish ICE Act, legislation that would dismantle U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and end its enforcement authority within 90 days of enactment. Since ICE's establishment in 2003, the agency has demonstrated that it cannot be reformed and poses a threat to both immigrant and non-immigrant communities. The evidence for abolishing ICE is overwhelming. In 2025 alone, approximately 70 percent of ICE arrests involved detainees with no criminal record. That same year, 32 inmates died in ICE detention, the highest number in over two decades, due to poor conditions including lack of medical care and neglect. Most alarmingly, as many as 170 American citizens were arrested and detained by ICE in 2025, a fact that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem denied during an October 30, 2025 press conference. The fatal incidents documented in this legislation reveal an agency operating without accountability. On January 7, 2026, a masked ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis as she sat in her car. Bystanders were prevented from providing life-saving assistance. On September 12, 2025, ICE agents shot and killed Silverio Villegas Gonzalez during a traffic stop after he dropped his children at school. On September 30, 2025, Operation Midway Blitz subjected a South Shore apartment building in Chicago to a military-style raid using flashbang grenades and explosives, resulting in 37 arrests. Legal experts have argued since ICE's creation that its mission could be better executed by other federal agencies that prioritize due process over aggressive enforcement. The Abolish ICE Act would immediately cut off federal funding for ICE operations and transfer remaining assets to the Secretary of Homeland Security. I urge you to cosponsor and vote for the Abolish ICE Act. Our immigration system needs fundamental reform, not an agency that operates beyond the rule of law.