I am writing to express deep alarm over the ongoing and unchecked actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Recent reporting documents widespread abuses and systemic and continuing failures within the agency.
ICE has been allowed to operate with minimal oversight while engaging in activities that undermine the law and our core democratic values. These include:
• Warrantless raids, indefinite detention, and the heart-wrenching family separation, often with little to no due process.
• The use of private detention centers that are rife with abuse, neglect, and even deaths in custody.
• Denying access and reports of the detention facilities to our elected officials.
• Targeting activists and community leaders, suggesting the agency is being used not just for enforcement, but political intimidation.
• Using our courts, local businesses, and community gatherings to target immigrants in massive raids.
• Failure to provide adequate medical care and mental health services within detention facilities, leading to suffering and preventable deaths.
• Lack of transparency regarding the deportation processes, including inconsistent application of asylum laws that put lives at risk.
• Ignoring established community trust policies that local law enforcement agencies have with immigrant communities, leading to fear and communities being less safe.
• The alarming use of tear gas in school zones during enforcement actions, putting children and vulnerable populations at significant risk.
• Complete disregard for community safety, with agents not adequately trained in the use of firearms, leading to dangerous encounters.
• Utilizing pepper bullets at point-blank range, which can cause severe injury, and employing violence against anyone who gets in their way, showcasing a general disregard for human rights.
Congressional oversight is urgently needed to stop these unlawful and unconstitutional actions. ICE must no longer be allowed to function with impunity. As your constituent, I strongly urge you to:
• Launch a formal investigation into ICE’s practices, including their use of private contractors and treatment of detainees.
• Hold public hearings on the legality and constitutionality of ICE’s operations.
• Advocate for a complete review of the agency's funding, focusing especially on programs that have documented civil rights violations.
• Support legislation that either abolishes ICE or reins in its mandate to ensure accountability, transparency, and respect for human rights.
This is not a partisan issue—it is a moral and legal one. We must ensure that our laws are applied justly and that the dignity of all individuals is respected. No agency should be above the law. I respectfully urge you to take action to restore accountability and uphold the rights that define our country.
Thank you for your time and your commitment to public service. I look forward to your response and, more importantly, your leadership on this critical issue.
First sent on June 9 by Nobody is above the law
