1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

I write to urge immediate congressional action and robust oversight of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Recent reports and court findings show repeated failures in detention care, use of force, and crowd-control tactics that put people’s lives and civil liberties at risk. These problems demand urgent, bipartisan remedies to protect human life, ensure accountability, and restore public trust. Although enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility, enforcement must comply with constitutional protections and humane standards. Investigations and independent reports have documented dozens of deaths in ICE custody in recent years, including cases where inadequate medical care and systemic detention failures contributed to preventable deaths. These findings have led federal oversight reports and legal orders requiring improvements at ICE facilities. Also, multiple reputable human-rights and news organizations have documented ICE and allied federal agents using crowd-control weapons — including tear gas, pepper balls, and projectiles — in ways that caused unnecessary harm to protesters, bystanders, and journalists. These incidents raise urgent questions about policy, training, and the appropriateness of deploying such tactics at immigration-related operations. For these reasons I respectfully request that Congress take the following steps: 1. Open a full, public congressional hearing examining ICE use-of-force policies, detention medical care, and oversight practices, and subpoena relevant internal records and incident reports. 2. Require the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General and the Department of Justice to complete and make public timely, independent investigations into all in-custody deaths and use-of-force incidents. 3. Temporarily suspend the use of crowd-control munitions (rubber bullets, pepper balls, tear gas) by ICE officers during immigration enforcement actions until independent standards, training, and accountability mechanisms are in place. 4. Require mandatory body-worn cameras for ICE officers during enforcement actions and public protests, with clear data-retention and public-access rules. 5. Establish binding detention standards requiring independent medical audits, guaranteed access to timely medical care and legal counsel, and unhindered unannounced congressional inspections of detention facilities. 6. Mandate a public, transparent process for discipline and, where appropriate, criminal referral for agents found to have used excessive force or engaged in misconduct. These changes are not an abdication of enforcement; they are necessary steps to ensure accountability, reduce preventable deaths, and preserve civil liberties. I urge you to act now to restore oversight and protect lives. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. I look forward to your leadership.