John,
Right now, Congress is drafting a federal budget that will funnel billions into ICE for an unprecedented expansion of mass deportation and private detention, all while essential programs, including Medicaid, housing aid, food assistance, and climate protections, are on the chopping block.
We’re talking about a 600% increase in ICE detention funding. This is a massive assault on immigrant families, constitutional rights, and the very concept of oversight.
Under the direction of unconfirmed Acting Director Todd Lyons, ICE has become the rogue agency Trump always dreamed of: conducting illegal raids, detaining residents without due process, and even arresting a judge in broad daylight to send a chilling message to the judiciary.
And who benefits most? Private prison corporations. These profiteers have lobbied hard to win this windfall, raking in taxpayer dollars while communities are torn apart. Trump already lifted bans on private detention contracts. Now Congress is poised to make the expansion permanent unless we stop them.
Tell Congress: Block this obscene giveaway to ICE. Reject cuts to vital programs. Say NO to a budget that funds fear and injustice.
While millions face evictions, food insecurity, and climate disaster, Trump’s allies want to strip down public services and supercharge the deportation machine. It’s the ultimate trade-off: safety nets for suffering families, exchanged for concrete cells and ICE raids.
Let’s be clear: detention does not equal safety. It equals cruelty, corruption, and human rights abuses. Communities across this country are living in fear, not of crime, but of ICE. Every extra dollar to this agency strengthens an anti-democratic system fueled by xenophobia and corporate greed.
If we let Congress rubber-stamp this budget, it will send a message: that fear wins, that justice is optional, and that democracy is for sale to the highest bidder. We can’t afford to let that message stand.
Tell Congress: Stop funding mass deportations. Protect public services. Rein in ICE now.
Together, we can stop this deportation machine before it grows beyond control.
- DFA AF Team
