1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose the expansion of ICE detention facilities and to support legislation that restores constitutional protections to immigration detainees. ICE currently holds over 70,000 people in 225 facilities across America, with plans to more than double both numbers. Because immigration violations are classified as civil rather than criminal infractions, detainees are stripped of many normal constitutional protections. This creates a legal black hole where people who have committed no crime face conditions that would be unconstitutional in any criminal justice setting. Detainees report being shackled for extended periods, packed into freezing and overcrowded cells under constant fluorescent light, and denied basic hygiene and timely medical care. At least 35 people have recently died in these facilities. The oversight crisis is deepening. As detentions and deaths surged in 2025, formal inspections dropped by over a third. ICE regularly refuses access to attorneys, family members, and even members of Congress. These access denials are now being litigated in federal courts because the lack of transparency prevents accountability. Proposed legislation in Tennessee coordinated by Stephen Miller would turn local police, teachers, and social workers into ICE agents, criminalize city efforts to refuse cooperation, and make it a felony to disclose conditions within detention facilities to the public. This represents a dangerous erosion of both local autonomy and First Amendment protections. Private prison companies with GOP ties are profiting billions from this expansion while basic human rights protections erode. History demonstrates that mass detention systems never remain limited to their original targets and that facilities designed to warehouse people deemed undesirable inevitably lead to abuse and tragedy. I urge you to oppose any legislation expanding ICE detention capacity, support oversight measures requiring regular inspections and access for attorneys and family members, and work to restore due process protections for all people in immigration proceedings regardless of their legal status.