1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to vote against any Department of Homeland Security funding bill that does not include meaningful accountability measures for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The recent shooting of Renee Good, a young mother in Minneapolis, and the death of Mr. Pretti represent a pattern of constitutional violations and excessive force that cannot continue with taxpayer funding. The current DHS spending bill provides $10 billion to ICE through September while cutting removal and enforcement operations by only $115 million. This is insufficient given the agency's documented abuses. ICE has reportedly sent a five year old child thousands of miles away to coerce his father into surrendering, demonstrating a willingness to use tactics that violate basic human rights and American values. These are not isolated incidents but evidence of systemic problems requiring immediate intervention. While the bill includes some modest reforms like 5,500 fewer detention beds and $20 million for body cameras, it fails to address the core accountability issues. It does not ban agents from wearing masks during operations, require judicial warrants for arrests, prevent the detention and deportation of U.S. citizens, or block DHS from commandeering other agencies' personnel for immigration enforcement. Without these protections, we are simply funding continued constitutional violations. A POLITICO poll from January found that 49 percent of voters believe the current deportation effort is too aggressive. Your constituents expect law enforcement to operate within constitutional boundaries, not as if this were the lawless frontier. Funding ICE without robust oversight and legal constraints makes Congress complicit in these abuses. I urge you to vote no on any DHS funding bill that does not include mandatory judicial warrants, prohibitions on detaining U.S. citizens, independent oversight with enforcement authority, and clear consequences for agents who violate constitutional rights. ICE must be reined in before receiving additional taxpayer dollars.