John,

Over the weekend, federal immigration officers executed another person in Minneapolis, Alex Pretti. Pretti is the third person shot and the second person killed by immigration officers this year in the city.

ICE and Customs and Border Protection are paramilitary forces that have descended on Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota to create chaos and sow fear in immigrant communities. Neighbors who stand up to keep their communities safe are assaulted and―in the cases of Alex Pretti and Renee Good―recklessly slain.

All of this is being funded with our tax dollars. In the Big Brutal Bill that passed over the summer, congressional Republicans voted to supercharge ICE’s budget with tens of billions of dollars in funding.¹

The Senate is voting this week on appropriations bills to keep the government operating. While a vote to increase funding for the Department of Homeland Security narrowly passed the House, it has not yet been voted on in the Senate.

Our demands are clear: We call on Congress to withhold any and all votes on DHS funding until the White House commits to removing ICE and CBP forces from our communities and Congress completes a full investigation into enforcement actions, use of force, and civil rights violations.

We demand that the Department of Homeland Security funding bill be separated from all other government funding measures, and that negotiators reject any increase in DHS funding―including for ICE and Customs and Border Protection―and instead roll back the tens of billions of dollars handed to ICE in last year’s Big Brutal Bill.²

Not another dollar for lawless, violent attacks on our communities.

Finally, we insist that any policy provisions included must meet a single standard: they must actually stop the violence and abuse. Measures that merely manage or legitimize harm―such as body-worn cameras, training requirements, quotas, or cosmetic reforms―do not meet this moment and must be rejected.

Send a direct message to the Senate and demand they stop DHS from endangering us. Demand they split off the DHS funding bill and reject increased funding for DHS, ICE, and CBP.

For the last year, this administration has been shredding our constitutional protections. According to an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press, ICE is advising agents that they can enter homes with an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant signed by a judge.³ This flies in the face of the Fourth Amendment, which protects residents from unlawful searches and seizures. And, they’re using battering rams to enter peoples’ homes illegally.⁴

The rights of the most vulnerable in our society are being trampled and violated. But as we’re seeing on the streets of Minneapolis and across the nation, no one is safe. Under this administration, we have seen ICE and other immigration officers engage in xenophobia and racially profile people―including detaining U.S. citizens. Giving this agency more money and more power would be unconscionable.

Send a message to the Senate ahead of this week’s vote demanding that they refuse to increase funding to DHS and ICE now.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Amidst ICE and CBP’s brutal violence, Congress is planning to give them even more money
² CHN Urges the Senate to Separate DHS Appropriations Bill from Larger Package, Reject DHS Funding
³ Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says
⁴ How officers used new ICE memo to forcefully enter a Minneapolis home