Congress Must Halt The Rapid Growth Of ICE Detention Facilities

CONGRESS MUST HALT THE UNJUSTIFIED AND PERMANENT EXPANSION OF ICE DETENTION INFRASTRUCTURE As your constituent, I am writing to oppose the rapid and unnecessary expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities now being funded and implemented through recent appropriations and administrative actions. This expansion represents a costly, excessive, and potentially irreversible enlargement of federal detention authority. Congress has both the power and the responsibility to stop this expansion before it becomes permanent federal infrastructure. THE COST OF THIS EXPANSION IS EXTRAORDINARY AND UNSUSTAINABLE Recent budget actions direct tens of billions of dollars annually toward immigration enforcement, with a significant portion devoted to expanding detention capacity, transportation, and long-term private contracts. ICE detention alone already costs well over $3 billion per year. Per-person daily detention costs routinely exceed $150 to $200 per detainee. Expanding physical detention infrastructure locks taxpayers into decades-long financial obligations that will outlast any short-term enforcement surge. These funds are being committed while Congress simultaneously debates cuts or constraints in healthcare, housing, disaster response, and other core public needs. THE SCALE OF DETENTION FACILITIES PROPOSED IS NOT OPERATIONALLY NECESSARY Facilities of this magnitude are not required to ensure immigration compliance. The majority of individuals held in ICE detention have no violent criminal history and present no public safety risk. Alternatives to detention, including supervised release and case-management programs, consistently achieve high court-appearance rates at a fraction of the cost. Expanding detention on this scale signals a shift toward detention as a default enforcement tool rather than a limited, case-specific measure of last resort. MASS DETENTION CAUSES REAL AND DOCUMENTED HARM Large-scale detention disrupts families, separates children from caregivers, and destabilizes local communities. These impacts extend well beyond detainees themselves and ripple through schools, workplaces, and local service systems. Oversight bodies, including the DHS Office of Inspector General and federal courts, have repeatedly documented serious deficiencies in ICE detention. These include inadequate medical care, delayed treatment, preventable deaths, limited access to counsel, and weak oversight of private contractors. Expanding a system with these unresolved failures multiplies human risk and legal exposure rather than strengthening lawful enforcement. CONGRESS MUST USE ITS OVERSIGHT AND APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORITY NOW Congressional silence will be interpreted as consent. I urge you to take the following steps promptly and publicly: (1) Oppose any appropriations, transfers, or reprogramming that expand ICE detention bed capacity or construct new large-scale facilities. (2) Require full public disclosure of detention-related contracts, projected long-term costs, and contractor performance records. (3) Support legislation that prioritizes alternatives to detention and restores detention to a narrow, clearly justified role consistent with due process. This expansion is already underway. Once facilities are built and contracts signed, reversal becomes far more difficult. Congress must act now to prevent the normalization of mass immigration detention as permanent federal infrastructure. Thank you.