1. United States
2. S.C.
3. Letter

I am writing today about the House's upcoming vote on the government funding bill. I fully support separating out all funding for DHS until immigration enforcement is reformed. Aside from requiring all agents to be wearing body cameras at all time, agents should be required to wear clearly identifiable badges. Agents should be prohibited from wearing face coverings as a method of concealing their identity. We do not have secret police in the US, and it is critical to accountability that officers can be identified by the public if they are abusing their position or breaking the law. I would like to see unbiased oversight of investigations of any claims of excessive force or in which a detainee, observer, or protester is injured or killed. This includes allowing the city or state where such an event occurs to have unrestricted access to investigate without federal interference. I would like to see and end to roving patrols and racial profiling. This may be necessary very near the US boarder, but certainly not 100 miles from our boarders, and certainly not in our cities. DHS is allowing ICE and CBP to use these patrols to intimidate protesters and legal observers and to allow them to racially profile members of our community. Law enforcement is meant to keep us safe, not terrorize our streets. I would like to see a stop to houses being entered and searched without a warrant signed by a judge, therefore protecting our 4th amendment rights. I would like to see an enforceable code of conduct that is in line with American citizens' and immigrants' legal, constitutionally protected rights. DHS, The President, and Congress have proven they can not be trusted with such oversight, so a separate entity should exist to enforce a code of conduct without bias or a political agenda. Lastly, I believe that people who's civil rights are violated by ICE or CBP should have the right to sue DHS, as another method to keep them accountable to the law. These are all reasonable reforms. They are standards that city and state police abide by every day. This is not a radical concept or agenda. Federal agents are not special. They are not intended to work outside the law. They should be held to the same standard of any other law enforcement agency operating inside the US.