Public Safety and Democracy Depend on Stopping ICE and CBP

Thanks to the OBBBA, we have now seen in heartbreaking, bloody detail what Donald Trump’s idea of immigration enforcement means for our communities. It’s masked thugs executing protesters on camera and law enforcement investigating their families instead of the killers. It’s little children being snatched off the sidewalk and used as bait to capture their parents. It’s flash bangs in restaurants and senior citizens being forced out into the snow in their underwear. It’s families being separated and neighborhoods being shattered as our family and friends are disappeared. It’s citizens being deported, It’s no due process, warrantless searches, secret police. It’s the administration telling us to reject the evidence of our eyes and ears, telling us that the out-of-control gang of armed goons stalking our streets is making us safer. We’ve seen enough. The American people have made their voices heard loud and clear: this cannot go on. It is a threat to our rights and our very lives. And the Trump Administration has no intention of stopping. Defenders of democracy have leverage at this moment as a result of the government funding deadline. It is imperative that you not squander it. We need more than cosmetic changes that sound good in a press release but protect no one. Do not support appropriating a penny to ICE and CBP without at minimum: ·       Repealing the $75 billion slush fund for ICE and $65 billion slush fund for CBP ·       Significant reductions in funding for detention and removal ·       Limiting the use of guns and military equipment by ICE during civil actions and codifying a clear use-of-force standard for ICE and CBP agents ·       Restricting Border Patrol activity to the border and getting them out of our cities ·       Congressional investigations of every ICE and CBP agent who has broken the law and every death in their custody ·       Required federal cooperation with state and local investigations into their misconduct ·       Ending qualified immunity for ICE and CBP agents ·       A restoration of the Bivens remedy, allowing us to file suits for damages against ICE and CBP agents violating our civil rights ·       Ending family detention ·       Addressing the overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, lack of adequate food and medical care at detention facilities ·       Banning immigration agents from wearing masks and requiring they display clear identification ·       Banning immigration agents from conducting arrests or home searches without judicial warrants ·       Banning ICE or Border Patrol enforcement at schools, day cares, hospitals, houses of worship, courthouses and other sensitive locations ·       Banning ICE and CBP from targeting people based on race, language, accent, place of employment or location at time of apprehension – no more Kavanaugh stops ·       Meaningful, enforceable penalties for violation of these bans ·       Meaningful, enforceable penalties for obstructing congressional oversight of detention facilities ·       The removal of Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Border Czar Tom Homan, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott from their jobs The White House will scream bloody murder at these demands. This is because they want a paramilitary force that is lawless and dangerous. None of them are unreasonable or particularly radical. They are simply intended to bring immigration enforcement back into the bounds of the Constitution, public safety, and common decency. Why would you accept anything less?