1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

After months of increased ICE enforcement across the country, it has become clear that they are not arresting, detaining, and deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records but are in fact sweeping for Black and Brown members of our communities, with and without legal right to remain in the United States. Repeatedly and in jurisdictions across red, blue, and purple states, immigrants with asylum cases pending or deferred deportation status who have been complying with their regular immigration check-ins have been targeted, arrested, held in detention, and deported without any material change in their circumstances. The relevant change has been that this administration has chosen to remove their protections —-as a class—- arbitrarily and capriciously. These campaigns to strip our communities of our hardworking, responsible, and rule-following neighbors at the whim of a president are anathema to our stable and democratic republic. ICE operations cannot continue to be funded as a private milita for the president’s political aims. Congress must • investigate the targeting and removal of protections for individuals who have been complying with an established asylum or deferred deportation plan • require DHS, CBP, ICE and HSI testimony under oath regarding the decisions, scope, procedures, and federal agency involvements in allocating attention to arrest immigrants complying with immigration check-in plans away from apprehending dangerous criminal immigrants involved in trafficking, organized crime or other criminal activities • withhold funding for the arrests, detention, or deportation of immigrants who have had standing protection or deferrals in place from FY2025 onward • enact clear consequences in this and future budgets and legislation for failure to spend funding on tasks and resources identified in congressional legislation