1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Shut down Delaney Hall. Vote against the $70 billion ICE and border patrol funding measure. And end the use of privately run detention facilities. What happened in Newark on May 26th was not an isolated incident — it was a window into a system that is rotten from the inside out. Detainees at Delaney Hall have been held 8 to 12 months with rotten or insufficient food, no functioning air conditioning, and denied medical care. They launched a hunger strike and work strike to be heard. The response from ICE was to deploy an armored vehicle against protesters, pepper-spray a sitting U.S. Senator, and transfer hunger strike organizer Martin Soto to another facility in apparent retaliation. DHS Secretary Mullin called the conditions "sub-prime" — his words for what detainees describe as inhumane. Governor Sherrill was denied entry to inspect the facility. Senator Kim was pepper-sprayed trying to de-escalate a confrontation ICE started. Pouring billions more into this agency in FY2027 would be a direct endorsement of everything that happened at Delaney Hall. Private detention facilities have no accountability to the public and every financial incentive to cut corners on food, healthcare, and basic dignity. That is not a system worth funding — it is a system worth dismantling.