This legislative ask is designed to be shared with your members of Congress and their staff.
Communities nationwide are experiencing deep disruption with the expansion of immigration enforcement into civic life. Warrantless operations and state violence have eroded public trust, while families miss school, work, medical appointments, and worship services out of concern. Faith communities affirm that seeking “security” through immigration enforcement must never violate constitutional rights and basic freedoms.
Congress must exercise its power of the purse responsibly. Funding must prioritize accountability and oversight mechanisms. Last year, Congress passed $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without sufficient accountability measures—more than the military defense budget for most nations. Now, Congress intends to allocate $70 billion more for immigration enforcement with no reforms. Why is Congress prepared to increase funding for immigration enforcement after a year of documented abuses without attaching a single reform, safeguard, or accountability measure?
Not another penny. Protect civil liberties and communities.
This is not a partisan issue. It’s about accountability and U.S. civil liberties. Like all law enforcement agencies, ICE and Border Patrol must operate within legislative guidelines that honor constitutional protections. While a change at the secretary level represents a page turned, discretion cannot live with individual agents and should be governed by law. Congress must stop handing over more funding for unchecked immigration enforcement and instead:
- Invest in meaningful accountability and oversight, including clear guidelines to ensure communities are safe from unchecked enforcement, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship. Advancing the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (H.R. 1061/ S. 455) would restore longstanding, sensible, bipartisan guardrails and ensure statutory clarity on enforcement in these spaces.
- End warrantless operations by masked and unidentified agents carrying out state violence, beginning the repair of public trust.
For more than three decades, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, sensitive location policies protected foundational American values: the right to freely exercise religion, access schools and healthcare, and enjoy due process. Enforcement near schools, houses of worship, healthcare facilities, and social service providers occurred only in exceptional circumstances. Those bipartisan guardrails were rescinded in January 2025, disrupting daily life and access to essential services.
Congress has the power to rein in cavalier, indiscriminate enforcement, protect civil liberties, and ensure our communities are safe.
