1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement and end Department of Homeland Security policies that are causing profound harm to children and families in our communities. Recent reporting reveals the Trump administration has issued a new order that could lead to the detention of tens of thousands of legal refugees without permanent residency. A federal judge recently issued a scathing ruling accusing the administration of terror against immigrants. These are not isolated incidents but part of a systematic pattern of cruelty that tears families apart and traumatizes children. The current immigration enforcement system operates with impunity and without adequate oversight. ICE has repeatedly demonstrated it cannot be reformed, as evidenced by cases like the deportation threats against a woman adopted from Iran by a US veteran and raised as a Christian. When legal residents and adoptees face removal, the system has fundamentally failed its stated purpose. Children bear the heaviest burden of these policies. Family separations cause documented psychological trauma that lasts for years. Detention facilities expose minors to unsafe conditions. The constant fear of enforcement actions disrupts education and development. No child should grow up wondering if their parent will be taken away or if they themselves will be deported from the only home they have known. I am asking you to cosponsor legislation to abolish ICE and redirect those resources toward humane immigration processing through existing agencies with proper oversight. I also urge you to oppose any funding increases for DHS immigration enforcement and to support measures that protect children from detention and family separation. Our immigration system should reflect our values of family unity and human dignity. The current approach fails that test. I need to know where you stand on abolishing ICE and protecting children from harmful enforcement practices.