Together with #DefundHate coalition partners, you helped defeat ICE’s special funding request for immigrant detention! The Washington Post reported that ICE’s request was for 1 billion dollars, specifically to expand immigrant detention. The spending bill passed through the Senate and is expected to pass next week through the House.
Together we moved quickly and powerfully. We drove calls to our congressional representatives, circulated petitions, signed a letter to Congressional Leadership and Appropriators and conducted 9 meetings with our Senators’ and Representatives’ offices – all calling for Congress to reject ICE’s special funding request for immigrant detention. Not only did we successfully stop ICE from receiving an extra billion dollars to bulk up immigrant detention, we also limited their power and the amount of funding they have for fiscal year ‘19’s budget negotiations.
We want to recognize that federations have laid a strong foundation with their Members of Congress’ offices calling for slashing funding for Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In total, federations met with the offices of:
- Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, CA-40
- Senator Feinstein, CA
- Senator Shaheen, NH
- Senator Leahy, VT
- Senator Udall, NM
- Senator Warren, MA
- Senator Markey, MA
- Senator Young, IN
- Senator Donnelly, IN
The fight isn’t over. ICE continues to lie and manipulate Congress, even taking funding away from FEMA, to lockup immigrant children, families, and community members in detention camps and separate families. They are securing the means to detain and deport a record number of our family members and loved ones by any means necessary. See this resource by NIJC for more information about ICE’s underhanded pattern of behavior.
The next big budget deadline is December 7th. Potentially ICE and CBP can walk away from the FY ‘19 budget negotiations with a combined budget somewhere between 21.7 billion and 25.01 billion dollars. Let’s stop them again!
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