1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose the Department of Homeland Security funding bill in its current form and demand substantial reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement before providing your vote. The Friday shutdown deadline makes this urgent, but protecting American lives must take precedence over political expediency. The recent killings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis have exposed serious accountability failures within ICE. These deaths are not isolated incidents but symptoms of an agency operating without adequate oversight or consequences. The current DHS appropriations bill allocates $10 billion to ICE without addressing these fundamental problems. Congressional Progressive Caucus leader Greg Casar has outlined five essential reforms that must be included in any DHS funding measure: prohibiting federal agents from wearing masks, establishing independent investigations into killings by federal agents, withdrawing ICE from Minneapolis and other American cities, ending arrests and deportations of US citizens and mass arrests, and eliminating arrest quotas for federal agents. These are reasonable safeguards that should be non-negotiable when funding a law enforcement agency with this much power. I understand Republicans hold 53 Senate seats and are pushing to vote on all six remaining funding bills together this week. However, bipartisan support is necessary to reach the 60-vote threshold, which gives you leverage to demand these critical reforms. Representative Tom Suozzi has already expressed regret for his House vote on this bill, acknowledging he "failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis." If Republicans choose to shut down the government rather than accept accountability measures for an agency that has killed American citizens, that responsibility lies with them. There is bipartisan compromise available on every other agency. I urge you to stand firm in demanding these reforms before providing your vote on DHS funding.