Washington, D.C. — Today Andrew O’Neill, National Advocacy Director of Indivisible, released the following statement in response to the Senate voting on passage of the ICE Funding Bill, and Republicans’ refusal to shut down the anti-weaponization slush fund:
“ICE and DHS have spent the last year showing Americans exactly who they are. From Minneapolis to Delaney Hall, we’ve seen a pattern of cruelty, abuse, and disregard for basic human dignity.
“Today, Republicans in Congress had an opportunity to draw a line. Instead, Senate Republicans voted to protect the anti-weaponization slush fund and pour $70 billion more into detention and deportation infrastructure. Across the chamber, House Republicans introduced their DHS bill which includes nearly $100 billion in additional funding for the DHS, and eliminates funding for the office tasked with oversight of detention facilities. Republicans can deflect, point fingers, and back pedal all they want, but their actions speak for themselves.
“As they funnel money into Trump’s cruel immigration agenda, detained immigrants report contaminated food, unsafe drinking water, overcrowding, extreme temperatures, limited medical care, delays in treatment for serious health conditions, and mistreatment. As outrage over these abuses grows, Republican lawmakers are responding not with oversight, accountability, or reform, but with more money, more power, and fewer guardrails. The MAGA GOP is choosing to reward this behavior instead of reining it in.
“Some of the same Republican senators who voted to pour $70 billion into ICE and Border Patrol once said immigration enforcement must be carried out with ‘ordinary human decency.’ Today, their votes told a different story. If Senate Republicans truly have concerns about abuse of power, they had the opportunity to prove it. Instead, they chose to protect the slush fund and advance a bill that rewards the very behavior Americans are demanding accountability for.
“It’s up to the House now to stop this bill. We demand immediate oversight of detention facilities, accountability for documented abuses, and an end to funding for these agencies that have repeatedly failed to uphold basic standards of safety and humanity.
“Congress should be investigating these agencies, not writing bigger checks while hoping the public looks away.”
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