1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand that Congress take immediate legislative action to protect the civil rights of Americans with disabilities and explicitly codify the "Integration Mandate" into federal law. On June 18, 2026, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a deeply dangerous 39-page legal memo.This memo attacks Olmstead v. L.C.—the landmark 1999 Supreme Court ruling that guarantees disabled people the right to live and receive care in their own homes and communities rather than being locked away in institutions. The DOJ is now falsely claiming that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act do not force states to prioritize community-based care over forced institutionalization. American Council of the Blind (ACB)+ 2 This is a direct threat to the independence, health, and lives of millions of disabled Americans. Stripping away the integration mandate gives cash-strapped states a green light to defund vital home-based medical care, independent living services, and group homes, effectively forcing disabled individuals back into nursing homes and psychiatric warehouses just to survive. AAPD+ 1 People with disabilities have a fundamental right to live, work, and thrive in their own communities with autonomy and dignity. Congress must not stand by while federal agencies weaponize legal memos to roll back nearly 30 years of civil rights progress.