WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 6, 2020) — The House Appropriations Committee this week proposed a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill for fiscal year 2021 that begins the long overdue process of defunding our nation’s deadly immigration detention system. This bill takes steps to hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) accountable for their wasteful spending, which has torn apart thousands of families and cost more than 55 lives in custody since 2017. The proposed spending bill also reduces money for detention, rescinds money for wall construction, and does not include any new money for border patrol agents.
The Defund Hate campaign issued the following statement about the proposed budget:
“The DHS budget that House appropriators proposed this week shows us that members of Congress are beginning to recognize their responsibility in ensuring that the U.S. government respects the dignity and human rights of all immigrants, families, and communities in this country. They are seeing that their spending decisions directly harm families who are separated by CBP and ICE at the border and throughout the country, as well as immigrants and asylum seekers who end up trapped in deadly detention centers. We are grateful to congressional appropriators who are stepping up to finally hold these agencies accountable. In particular, we welcome these steps in light of more than 2,700 confirmed COVID-19 cases and two known deaths from COVID-19 complications in ICE detention. Further emphasizing the need for Congress to hold these agencies accountable, a recent Government Accountability Office audit found that CBP misspent millions of taxpayer dollars that should have been put toward humanitarian aid at the southern border.
“Yet even with these important positive changes in Congress’s approach to ICE and CBP funding, the Defund Hate campaign is concerned about the proposed increases for a grant program that would fuel the militarization of state and local law enforcement agencies and expand local police collaboration with CBP. Congress must cut funding to all institutions that perpetuate racism and violence, and redirect those tax dollars toward education, housing, health care, and other programs that provide opportunity and increase our collective wellbeing.
“We believe that transformative structural change in the immigration system is possible. This belief fueled the launch of this campaign three and a half years ago to divest from the harmful structures that attack our communities, and instead invest taxpayer dollars in ways that help all communities thrive together. With this long arc of progress in mind, Defund Hate campaign partners welcome the steps forward in this bill while continuing to fight for the freedom and safety of our communities.”
The proposed DHS spending bill includes the following provisions which the Defund Hate campaign supports, and hopes will signify the beginning of a reenvisioning of immigration processing in the United States:
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The Defund Hate campaign, composed of organizations representing directly impacted communities, faith leaders, and civil rights and immigrant rights advocates, is committed to divestment from agencies that tear apart our families and terrorize our communities. For too long, our representatives have said they care about our communities while simultaneously funding aggressive immigration enforcement and deadly immigration jails. They must be held accountable to keep their promises and stand with the immigrant community. We call on our members of Congress to say no and vote against wasting taxpayer dollars on an abusive and deadly immigration enforcement system. Instead, we want our tax dollars used to strengthen our families and communities by investing in education, housing, nutrition and health care programs that provide opportunity and increase well-being.