Washington, DC — This week, over 200 human rights organizations focused on advancing immigrant and racial justice, safeguarding democracy, and protecting our civil rights and liberties, sent a letter to Congress. In the letter, the organizations demanded Congress reject funding for the Trump Administration’s extreme and unprecedented multi-pronged expansion of the immigrant detention system. Trump’s plans would more than triple the size of immigration detention to detain over 120,000 people, including U.S. citizens and families. The administration’s plan utilizes military assets and bases like Guantánamo Bay – which will require a mass infusion of resources to detain a reported 30,000 people – all the while lowering already dangerous detention standards, exacerbating abuse and medical neglect, and broadening the scope of targeting people for detention.
The full letter can be found here.
Bruna Sollod, Senior Political Director of United We Dream, said:
“The Trump Administration’s drastic and alarming detention expansion should sound off alarm bells for Americans nationwide who will witness billions of their taxpayer dollars being funneled into an ineffective and cruel system that only makes private companies and billionaires richer. All the while, this means less money for our education system, healthcare, housing, food and the essential resources our communities need to survive in this country. Not only does mass detention disproportionately endanger Black, brown, queer and trans immigrants, but Trump and his administration have said they are not above also detaining U.S. citizens. This reckless and costly plan will further chip away at our fundamental human and constitutional rights.
We urge Members of Congress to vocally oppose Trump’s cruelty and boldly deny Trump, Elon Musk, and their cult of unelected billionaires, the use of our taxpayer dollars to carry out unconstitutional and un-American plans to dramatically expand immigration detention. This includes cutting funding to ICE, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and any other agencies that would be used to carry out raids and kidnappings of our loved ones. Our elected officials have a responsibility at this moment to do everything possible to stop Trump’s destruction of our lives.”
Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director, Detention Watch Network, said:
“If realized, Trump’s unprecedented multi-layered immigration detention expansion will tear apart families, put people’s lives in danger, and cost taxpayers greatly. It will also increase the targeting and racial profiling of people within their communities based on what they look like, the language they speak, and where they work while further expanding the detention system that is rife with abuse. It is not an exaggeration to say that Trump’s immigration detention expansion plan will cost billions of dollars and cause immediate harm and long-lasting damage to our democracy. It’s already clear that Trump is intent on paying for this cruelty by cutting funding for critical programs and services that help all Americans in order to pump that money into the detention and deportation system. People across the United States are concerned with the price of groceries, the safety of our aviation systems, and the mass layoffs of federal workers, yet the Trump regime is focused on spending billions of taxpayer dollars on cruel and inhumane immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation while making sweetheart deals with his billionaire friends. Detention Watch Network urges Senators to boldly and unequivocally oppose any bill that funds Trump’s cruel attacks on immigrants and harms working people across the country. This moment demands a national outcry — none of us can remain silent on Trump’s excessive cruelty and our elected leaders must vocally oppose this mass detention and deportation agenda by denying Trump the resources he needs to carry out his plans, including by cutting funds to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.”
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United We Dream is the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation; made up of a multi-racial and multi-ethnic network of 1.2 million members, over 100 local groups, and a reach of over 5 million per month. UWD’s vision is to push for just policies that allow everyone to thrive regardless of immigration status. United We Dream is fighting for a multi-racial democracy that works for everyone by building a movement of young people who organize and advocate for the dignity and justice of immigrants and communities of color. You can find more at www.unitedwedream.org.
Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States.