The Trump administration's mass deportation campaign is a cruel and inhumane exercise which will stain our nation's conscience for generations. Like the so-called 'repatriation drives' of the 1930s, or "Operation Wetback" of the 1950s, in which many people who were born here or were here legally were illegally deported, the Trump administration has escalated deportations dramatically since early June, organizing an unprecedented assault on immigrant communities, including people with legal status, asylum seekers, refugees, and families with deep ties to America.
The data is damning. ICE has grown from 21,000 to 29,000 employees and opened new detention facilities while deputizing local police through the 287(g) program. This infrastructure, both physical and human, will persist for decades. We are incarcerating and deporting people who pay taxes and contribute to their communities - when the public debt is greater than $40 trillion! Before these detention centers were even built, the United States already imprisoned more people than any other nation in the world, including China, according to the Brennan Center. By incarceration rate per 100,000 citizens, we rank fourth globally, according to the World Prison Brief. And yet, we are expanding this dystopian apparatus at industrial scale. ICE arrested 43,000 people in June and 49,000 in July 2026, with deportations exceeding 1,000 people per day as the administration pursues its goal of 2,000 daily arrests. Newly released federal data reveals that a majority of July arrests were for civil immigration violations alone, not crimes. Less than 4 percent had violent criminal convictions. This is not deporting 'the worst of the worst', this is creating a carceral infrastructure for no reason other than to build the machinery of mass repression.
People who were detained include those married to U.S. citizens, legal immigrants filing asylum claims, tech workers awaiting visa extensions, former au pairs, and those with pending work authorizations. The administration has also established a secretive third-country deportation program, sending people to at least 18 countries, including flights directly to Haiti and Iran, putting vulnerable individuals at grave risk. It is clear that this is not about dangerous criminals. It is about creating a deportation system that arrests, detains, and removes people at industrial scale, regardless of legal status, family connections, or circumstances.
As your constituent, I urge you to: demand an immediate halt to arrest quotas and mass enforcement operations; investigate the third-country deportation program's legal basis; prohibit ICE collaboration with TSA at airports targeting people with pending legal applications; restore humane, transparent immigration enforcement prioritizing genuine public safety; shut down the detention centers; and support legislation like the Artemis Act (H.R. 3504) to protect those fleeing religious persecution.
The values for which this country ought to stand are being systematically dismantled. Congress must act now
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