1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to immediately move to claw back the $170 billion allocated to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection in H.R. 1. This massive funding increase, passed last July, has enabled constitutional violations and abuses while draining resources from programs that actually keep communities safe. H.R. 1 made ICE the highest-funded US law enforcement agency, tripling its annual budget to over $73 billion over four years for immigration enforcement and detention. Meanwhile, the same bill slashed billions from Medicaid and SNAP, programs that millions of Americans depend on for healthcare and food security. Critically, this enforcement funding increase included no corresponding resources for immigration courts or services that protect detainees' due process rights. Internal ICE data leaked to the CATO Institute late last year reveals the agency is not targeting dangerous criminals as claimed. The data shows 73% of ICE detainees had no criminal conviction whatsoever, and only 5% had a violent criminal conviction. This directly contradicts administration claims about arresting "the worst of the worst." With this unprecedented funding, ICE and CBP have escalated abuses including entering homes without judicial warrants and mistreating detainees. These are clear violations of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and Fifth Amendment due process rights. No law enforcement agency should operate with this level of funding and this little accountability. We do not need more lawless, under-trained, over-armed agents terrorizing our communities. I am asking you to take immediate action to reclaim these tens of billions of dollars. This funding could instead support healthcare, nutrition assistance, and other programs that genuinely improve public safety and community wellbeing. Congress has the power to correct this misallocation of taxpayer dollars, and I urge you to exercise it now.