ICE Operations Target Non-Criminals and Destabilize Communities

I’m writing to demand you restore constitutional immigration enforcement that targets actual threats instead of terrorizing communities and traumatizing American children. Over 70% of people in ICE detention have no criminal record. Ninety-three percent have never been convicted of a violent crime. Over 30,000 students stayed home in North Carolina last week after ICE operations in Charlotte. That’s 20% of the district absent in one day. Elementary school kids showed up wearing tags reading “I’m a U.S. citizen” and carrying passports. Two kindergartners wore whistles to blow if they saw agents. The Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe that all children have a constitutional right to education regardless of immigration status. When ICE fires tear gas near schools, engages in car chases that prompt lockdowns, and arrests children outside campuses, our government violates that right. One in four American children has at least one immigrant parent. These operations disrupt education for 16 million citizen children whose classrooms empty and whose teachers can’t teach when students watch windows for agents instead of learning math. The economic damage proves these tactics don’t work. Los Angeles has lost 13,000 immigrant students this year. That’s billions in lost federal funding. California’s workforce dropped 3.1% after weeks of workplace raids. When ICE raided a dairy farm in Lovington, New Mexico, the company shut down after 11 employees were arrested. Most employers had used E-Verify and believed they complied with the law. Research from the Dallas Federal Reserve confirms that employer sanctions like audits and fines are more effective than mass raids at reducing unauthorized employment. The Obama administration proved this works. Between 2009 and 2016, ICE audited over 8,900 employers, debarred 8,590 companies, and imposed more than $100 million in sanctions. Deportations of criminals increased 80% under that approach. We don’t need agents wearing masks and shooting people near campuses to enforce immigration law. We need warrants, judicial oversight, and enforcement focused on actual threats. I’m calling on you to restore the sensitive location policy that protected schools, churches, and hospitals. Pass legislation requiring ICE to obtain judicial warrants before operations near K-12 campuses. Provide oversight hearings demanding ICE explain how operations that empty classrooms and violate Supreme Court precedent serve public safety. Shift enforcement resources toward employer sanctions that actually deter unauthorized hiring instead of mass raids that destabilize communities. Republicans and Democrats both claim to support law and order, quality education, and constitutional rights. Prove it by demanding immigration enforcement that follows the law instead of treating American communities as war zones and citizen children’s education as collateral damage.