How to Rein in ICE–NOW

banner for event titled "ICE OUT FOR GOOD"

Masked federal agents are terrorizing our communities–teargassing babies and pastors, kidnapping our neighbors and shipping them off to foreign torture prisons, and killing innocent people. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations are especially aggressive in Democratic states and sanctuary cities that have chosen to welcome immigrants–like Minneapolis, Minnesota, where American citizen Renee Nicole Good was killed by ICE on January 7. This killing is part of a broader pattern of unchecked violence and abuse carried out by federal immigration enforcement agencies against members of our communities. 

But we’re not powerless. In fact, we have an opportunity to rein in ICE this month. 

ICE and Border Patrol are part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is currently funded only through January 30. The new funding bill that’s currently being written is our opportunity to put significant restrictions on ICE and ensure it gets no additional budget for its brutality. This resource breaks down what we’re demanding and how you can take action.

All actions under this banner are nonviolent and lawful, community-led, and grounded in moral witness, public accountability, and collective care.

  • TAKE ACTION NOW

    • READY TO TAKE ACTION NOW?

    If you’re ready to take action already and don’t need any more background, here are quick links to the tools you can use to contact your Members of Congress and demand they rein in ICE. Otherwise, read on for everything you need to know about this fight.  

    Plan advocacy visits to your Senators’ district offices and other local actions for the week of January 16-25 while the Senate is in recess

  • THE WONKY DETAILS

    • THE WONKY DETAILS

    Republicans hold majorities in the House and Senate–but funding bills (called “appropriations”) must clear 60 votes in the Senate to proceed, so Democrats have real leverage in this fight. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have abdicated that key leverage on funding twice now since Trump returned to power: handing Trump and Elon Musk a blank check in March 2025 that included hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding for ICE, and caving in the shutdown fight in November to support a deal that did nothing to address the Republican-caused healthcare crisis. Many Democrats in Congress continue to appear more concerned about being seen as “too soft” on immigration than they are about using their power to stop families being ripped apart and communities being terrorized by Trump’s brutal secret police. 

    That’s why Congress needs to hear from us now. Putting restrictions on ICE funding and cutting off its slush funds is the bare minimum every Member of Congress should support. We need to light a fire under Democrats to demand they use their leverage on the DHS appropriations bill to rein in ICE and deny the Trump regime one penny more for its mass deportation machine. And, while most Republicans continue to rubberstamp Trump’s atrocities, some are becoming bolder in criticizing ICE’s lawlessness and pattern of shredding constitutional protections; the louder we are and the more we organize our communities to take action, the harder it will be for Republicans to continue backing Trump’s terror campaign. 

    DHS isn’t the only agency for which Congress is still negotiating appropriations ahead of the next shutdown deadline on January 30–funding for the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Education, and more is also on the line. But this moment is an opportunity to demand accountability for ICE and crystallize the growing public opposition to MAGA’s extreme and deadly anti-immigration agenda.

  • OUR DEMANDS

    • OUR DEMANDS

    Renee Nicole Good’s killing is part of a broader pattern of unchecked violence, impunity, and abuse carried out by federal immigration enforcement agencies against our communities. 

    Congress must reject any appropriations bill that includes increased funding for ICE or Border Patrol, and refuse to vote for any DHS funding bill unless it:

    • Strengthens restrictions on ICE and Border Patrol’s ability to conduct dragnet arrest operations and target people based on their race, language or accent, place of employment, or location at the time of the apprehension. These agencies have secretively created a mass surveillance apparatus that uses dragnet techniques to forcibly collect and track biometric data on American citizens and immigrants alike without any legislative, judicial, or public oversight.
    • Ends Border Patrol deployment to our cities and rejects its ever-expanding mandate in immigration enforcement. Trump’s DHS has been deploying Border Patrol in complex immigration enforcement campaigns in cities far from any border, harassing communities and refusing to communicate with local law enforcement. Trump treats Greg Bovino, the “Commander At Large,” like his personal secret police chief.
    • Limits DHS's reprogramming and transfer authority, including specifically preventing reprogramming and transferring funds for detention. This prohibits DHS from continuing to move money around to fuel ICE and Border Patrol lawlessness. We can’t trust that funds meant to be used for routine work like customs paperwork won’t be reallocated for dangerous detention centers or weapons of war used on our communities. 

    We can't wait around while ICE harms more people. Indivisible and our coalition partners demand that Congress must write a DHS appropriations bill that puts serious restrictions on ICE, ends its dragnet raids, and doesn’t add a penny to its already bloated budget. 

  • OUR MESSAGE

    • OUR MESSAGE

    ▶️ We are outraged by the killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE. She was a 37-year-old wife and mother of three children who loved to sing and studied creative writing and she was shot in the face by an ICE agent. We grieve her death and the deaths of all those killed in ICE detention.

    ▶️ ICE has been escalating its cruel deployments into our communities. This recent killing is not an isolated incident, but the devastating and predictable result of ICE’s lawless operations and President Trump's abuse of power.

    ▶️ We demand accountability and not one penny more for ICE. Congress must reject funding increases in the DHS appropriations bill and rein in ICE and Border Patrol. 

    We will meet ICE’s violence with steadfast nonviolence and lawful protest. We won’t stand for our neighbors being terrorized with our taxpayer dollars.

  • TAKE ACTION

    • TAKE ACTION

    Congress MUST demand an end to this lawless violence, and withhold their votes from any legislation that would add to ICE's already massive budget. 

    As they debate the DHS appropriations bill, your Members of Congress need to hear from you before funding runs out on January 30:

    From January 16-25, the Senate will be in recess–a critical part of the legislative calendar when Members of Congress return to their home districts and states to host town halls, meet with constituents, and be responsive to the people who elected them. This Senate recess means the week of January 16-25 is the perfect time for advocacy visits to your Senators’ district offices and other local actions to make it impossible for them to ignore their constituents’ demands for accountability.

    What else can you do?

    • Honor and humanize the lives taken by ICE.
    • Demand accountability, transparency, and immediate investigation into the killing of Renee Nicole Good–including that the FBI release all related records to and cooperate with Minnesota local authorities. We need an independent investigation.
    • Expose the broader pattern of ICE violence–including the 30+ lives lost in ICE detention in 2025.
    • Call for ICE to leave our communities.
    • Build public pressure on elected officials and federal agencies.
    • Create space for grief, solidarity, and collective action.
    • Join local mutual aid efforts, sign up for grocery deliveries, or find other ways to help your neighbors.
    • Strengthen local connections and neighborhood response systems.
    • Support organizations working on the ground in Minnesota right now, including:

    What can state local elected leaders do?

    Each jurisdiction has their own laws, governing structures, and local needs. Please follow the lead of immigrant rights organizations leading on the ground locally, and tailor these to your own context. 

    • Prepare your states and cities now for potential DHS enforcement operations in the future. Have a rapid response plan in place, and conduct Know Your Rights trainings with community members and leaders.
    • Make sure your police departments know they are there to protect residents, not work with ICE to brutalize them. Ban the masks.
    • Pause evictions. Ramp up meals programs. Ensure people’s basic needs can be met.
    • Train schools and teachers so they are ready.
    • Prepare to run your own investigations of ICE abuses, and hold agents who break the law accountable. Videotape your own evidence so the FBI cannot run a cover-up for another ICE killing in your city. Ensure you know the limits of your legal authorities, and be prepared to maximize them.
  • RESOURCES

    • Resources