An open letter to the U.S. Congress

STOP the Violence — Congress Must Rein in ICE NOW

50 so far! Help us get to 100 signers!

This is not a policy disagreement. This is a crisis of violence and death that you alone have the power to stop. As of January 24, 2026, federal immigration agents known as ICE have been involved in multiple fatal encounters in Minneapolis, including the unarmed killing of Renee Good on January 7 and another fatal shooting of a 37-year-old man on January 24 — both of which have sparked widespread outrage, protests, and demands for accountability. That’s just the tip of a grim iceberg. At least 38 people have died in ICE custody since January 20, 2025 — not counting fatal shootings during enforcement operations like Minneapolis. This list includes: 2026 deaths while detained: • Heber Sanchaz Domínguez • Victor Manuel Diaz • Parady La • Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz • Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres • Geraldo Lunas Campos (ruled a homicide) Among the 32 documented deaths in 2025: • Genry Ruiz Guillén • Serawit Gezahegn Dejene • Maksym Chernyak • Juan Alexis Tineo-Martinez • Brayan Garzón-Rayo • Nhon Ngoc Nguyen • Marie Ange Blaise • Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado • Jesus Molina-Veya • Johnny Noviello • Isidro Pérez • Tien Xuan Phan • Chaofeng Ge • Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas …and many more documented in 2025 ICE records. These are human beings — fathers, mothers, workers, asylum seekers, elderly people, people with medical needs — dying in custody due to neglect, inadequate medical care, alleged violence, or indeterminate causes reported by ICE officials. Congress, this is your jurisdiction. You authorize the funding. You set the laws. You are the only body that can: • Limit ICE’s ability to detain people without meaningful oversight, • Establish strict, enforceable standards of care and force, • Require transparent, independent investigations of every death, • Suspend operations that have repeatedly led to fatalities, • Mandate accountability for violations of civil rights and human dignity. Standing idly by while these deaths mount — whether in detention centers or in enforcement actions on our streets — is not governance. It is negligence. It is complicity. We demand action now. Not next month. Not next session. NOW. Stop the violence. Rein in ICE. Protect human life.

▶ Created on January 24 by Rachel

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