1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

CONGRESS MUST CONFRONT MASS DEPORTATION TARGETS As your constituent, I urge you to speak out against the administration’s deportation tactics and goals. ICE budget materials say the FY 2026 budget supports 1,000,000 removals per year and 100,000 detention beds, while reporting says DHS is shifting toward less visible enforcement. Congress must ensure that federal funds are not used to evade transparency, individualized review, or statutory safeguards. TARGETS RISK SPEED OVER ACCURACY A target of 1,000,000 removals per year is not ordinary enforcement. It creates pressure to move cases quickly, even when people have pending claims, family ties, or defenses. Numerical targets risk rewarding speed over accuracy. Congress should investigate whether DHS and ICE are protecting counsel, bond review, asylum procedures, family unity, and individualized review. Congress should not wait until expanded removals produce family separations, workforce disruption, wrongful removals, or local fear. Expanded detention capacity requires oversight of spending, facilities, inspections, reporting, and contractors. LOCAL POLICE MUST NOT BECOME A DEPORTATION FORCE ICE states that, as of April 30, 2026, it had signed more than 1,700 separate 287(g) agreements with agencies in 39 states and 2 U.S. territories. These agreements allow local officers to perform immigration-enforcement functions under ICE supervision. Expanding that model risks routine local encounters becoming entry points for deportation. It can undermine trust in police, discourage victims and witnesses, and divert local resources from public safety. PROTECT DUE PROCESS BEFORE MASS REMOVALS EXPAND The administration may enforce immigration law, but enforcement must be lawful, humane, transparent, and governed by due process. Numerical goals, detention expansion, and broad local deputizing create risks of error, wrongful detention, and family separation. Congress should act now to prevent a quieter strategy from becoming a less accountable one. The United States can enforce immigration law without overwhelming due process, hiding key decisions, or turning local police into federal deportation partners. I urge you to take these steps: (1) Speak out against mass deportation targets that prioritize numbers over individualized review. (2) Hold oversight hearings on ICE detention expansion, removal targets, 287(g) agreements, facility conditions, contractors, and due process. (3) Use subpoenas and document requests to obtain DHS and ICE plans, facility contracts, detention standards, removal targets, guidance, and communications with local partners. (4) Support legislation that limits overbroad 287(g) expansion, protects counsel and bond review, and requires reporting on wrongful detention and removal. (5) Oppose funding for large-scale removals unless it includes enforceable reporting, inspections, civil-rights safeguards, contractor oversight, and public accountability. Thank you.