Tell Congress: It’s Time to Defund ICE

An ICE officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis, and once again, a federal agency with a long record of abuse is responding with lies and deception. This was the predictable result of a system that keeps pouring money into a lawless agency while refusing to impose real limits, accountability, or consequences.

Right now, Congress is approaching a critical end-of-January funding deadline. That deadline is not just a budgeting exercise. It is leverage. And members of Congress must use it.

After the Minneapolis shooting, rank-and-file Democrats made clear what many communities have been saying for years: ICE has become a rogue force. Senator Chris Murphy said Democrats cannot vote for a Department of Homeland Security budget that fails to restrain ICE’s growing lawlessness. Representative Pramila Jayapal went further, calling ICE a violent, unaccountable force that should not keep receiving blank checks. Representative Delia Ramirez was explicit that statements and letters are not enough, and that the January 31 funding cliff is the moment to act.

For years, Congress has responded to deaths, civil rights violations, and mass surveillance by holding hearings, issuing condemnations, and then approving even more money. The result is an agency emboldened to escalate violence, expand raids, and operate with near-total immunity, all while families and entire communities live in fear.

Republicans want to expand a deportation machine that has already shown it cannot be trusted to police itself. Continuing to fund ICE at current levels tells agents on the ground that nothing will change, no matter how many people are harmed or killed.

Congress has the power to stop this. By refusing to pass a DHS funding bill that bankrolls ICE, lawmakers can force real reforms, real limits, and real accountability.

Tell Congress to do what morality and justice demand. Do not pass another budget that funds ICE’s violence. Use the January 31 funding deadline to cut ICE’s budget, rein in this agency, and end the cycle of abuse.

Add your name now and tell Congress: it’s time to defund ICE and stop paying for violence in our name.