Congress Must Deny Funding for ICE in the New Budget Resolution

As you negotiate the remaining appropriations for Fiscal Year 2026 before the end of this month, I urge you to oppose any budget resolution or continuing resolution that continues funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in its current form. Recent events make clear that ICE is no longer functioning as a lawful, accountable immigration enforcement agency. Its operations have escalated into violence against civilians, widespread constitutional violations, and an alarming politicization of federal law enforcement. These actions have not improved public safety. Instead, they have destabilized communities and undermined democratic governance. In Minnesota, large-scale ICE deployments have coincided with fatal shootings, repeated use-of-force incidents, and sustained unrest. Rather than accountability, the federal response has included threats to invoke the Insurrection Act, preparations for deploying active-duty military forces domestically, and criminal probes targeting elected state and local officials who publicly opposed ICE operations. At the same time, federal authorities have refused to open an investigation into the ICE agent who killed a civilian during an enforcement action. Senior administration officials have repeatedly provided contradictory or demonstrably false public statements about ICE practices, denied the use of chemical agents despite video evidence, and dismissed documented misconduct as a matter of “optics.” This pattern reflects an agency operating without transparency, oversight, or respect for constitutional limits. Importantly, opposition to ICE’s current structure is no longer confined to one ideological wing. Elected officials who previously ran on tougher immigration enforcement now state plainly that ICE has become a politicized, militarized force that cannot be reformed through additional funding. When even those voices conclude the agency must be torn down and replaced, Congress should listen. Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to act. The power of the purse exists precisely to prevent executive abuse and to enforce accountability when federal agencies violate the public trust. Continuing to fund ICE without dismantling and replacing its current structure would signal approval of violence, retaliation, and the erosion of civil liberties. I respectfully urge you to deny funding for ICE in any new budget resolution unless Congress first acts to dissolve the agency as currently constituted and replace it with a humane, civilian immigration enforcement system grounded in the rule of law, due process, and constitutional protections. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.