1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

As you work on negotiating the funding for DHS, treat this opportunity as a line in the sand.!! DHS — and especially ICE— must not get ANY further funding until these agencies are dismantled and rebuilt under clear constitutional, legal, and operational standards. Recent events make continued funding indefensible. As you well know, federal courts are now repeatedly intervening to stop DHS from acting unlawfully. This week, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes halted Noem’s termination of TPS for Haitian immigrants. At the same time, DHS enforcement has spiraled into open constitutional crisis. Masked federal agents conduct raids without judicial warrants. U.S. citizens and lawful residents have been illegally detained. People have been shot and killed by federal agents. Children have been jailed. Oversight has failed, and accountability is absent. These are all symptoms of an agency acting with impunity. Agents remain protected. Court decisions are repeatedly ignored. Waves of resignations from U.S. Attorney’s Offices reflect this reality: enforcing the law is becoming impossible when agencies refuse to follow it. This is not a failure of “training” or “messaging.” It is a structural breakdown. Congress cannot continue funding agencies that defy courts, disregard statutes, and deploy armed agents who kill civilians without consequence. The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse to stop executive abuse when other checks fail. NOW is that moment. Congress must refuse to fund DHS and ICE in their current form. Funding should resume only after these agencies are dismantled and rebuilt with enforceable limits, judicial oversight, transparent identification, lawful procedures, and real accountability. A shutdown will be disruptive. But permanently financing lawlessness is far worse. Do not fund illegality. Do not reward violence. Use the budget to force real change.