Friend,

It’s Aamra from the SPLC’s federal policy team. I’m personally reaching out to express my horror and outrage about the cruelty and lawlessness of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

While the House has voted to advance Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, the Senate can stop these atrocities by rejecting the DHS funding bill because it gives more money to ICE and Border Patrol.

There’s still a chance to pressure lawmakers to do the right thing, and you have the power to demand that they put an end to the warrantless raids and abuses against our communities.

Friend, please urge Congress to reject any DHS funding bill that directs more money to mass deportation and detention efforts and instead demand that any DHS funding bill include meaningful guardrails to rein in ICE and Border Patrol abuses.

The proposed funding bill will add hundreds of millions more dollars to ICE’s budget.

This is on top of the $170 billion Congress already included in the Big Ugly Bill for the next four years for detention and enforcement — setting yet another dangerous precedent in our country that will make us less safe by exposing people to violence and fear of ICE and Border Patrol abuses.

Funding mass deportation efforts has made our communities — especially Black and Brown people — less safe with warrantless raids, violence against peaceful protestors, subjecting detainees to inhumane conditions, targeting schools, hospitals, churches and even killing multiple people in broad daylight.

The stakes are even greater now that this administration is using the violence and brutality unleashed by ICE and Border Patrol to pressure states to hand over their voter rolls and comply with its election suppression agenda.

The last thing we need is additional funding to perpetuate these atrocities.

This financial windfall to DHS is being made at the expense of our communities’ essential services — health care, nutrition, education, housing and more. And now free, fair elections are at stake too.

Now is not the time to treat the DHS funding bill as business as usual. We must demand that Congress reject any DHS funding bill that includes funds for ICE and Border Patrol. We must also demand that any DHS funding bill include meaningful guardrails to reign in abuses by ICE and Border Patrol and no more funding for these lawless immigration actions that threaten communities.

My team and I are continuing to push back against cruel policies and advocate for better conditions for Black and Brown communities — demanding public safety, adherence to the rules of law, and working with lawmakers to ensure a safer future is possible for all. But we need your help.

Friend, your voice could make a difference on what our government decides to fund for the rest of the fiscal year — creating a ripple effect on the safety and wellbeing of our country.

Please tell Congress to oppose funding for mass deportation efforts.

The Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104

Unsubscribe