1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing as a concerned constituent and as a parent to urge you to support the Melt ICE Act. I am horrified by the actions carried out in the name of immigration enforcement and the violence that has resulted. Tonight, as I tucked my children into their beds and helped them find their stuffed animals, I could not stop thinking about Liam Ramos — a five-year-old detained by ICE while walking home from school. A child. Five years old. What kind of country are we becoming if that is acceptable? This harm does not stop with detention. On January 7, 2026, 37-year-old Renée Good, a mother and U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis during an enforcement operation. This was the ninth time in recent months that ICE agents opened fire on people in five states and Washington, D.C. — and it resulted in the loss of an innocent life. In addition, troubling reports have emerged from within ICE detention. Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old man in ICE custody at the Camp East Montana facility in Texas, died on January 3. A preliminary medical examiner’s report indicates his death was a homicide due to asphyxia from neck and torso compression, contradicting the agency’s initial account. No mother should be gunned down and denied timely medical care. No person, whether detained like Mr. Campos or living freely, should die under circumstances that raise serious concerns about the use of force and lack of transparency. No child should live in fear of family separation, violence, or arbitrary harm. These practices do not make us safer. They traumatize families, undermine trust in public institutions, and erode the values we claim to uphold as Americans. The Melt ICE Act represents a necessary step toward accountability, civilian oversight, humane treatment, and protection for people in detention. We can enforce laws without cruelty. We can protect public safety without terrorizing communities. And we must insist on systems that value human life, transparency, and justice over secrecy and impunity. I urge you to publicly support and vote for the Melt ICE Act, and to use your position to demand an immediate end to policies and practices that harm, dehumanize, and endanger people in our communities. Please act with urgency. Our children are watching, and history will remember what we chose to do in moments like this.