Stop Abusive Immigration Enforce

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Tell Congress
to Stop Abusive Immigration Enforcement
and Detention

We need to urge Congress to cut back on the huge funding increases for ICE and CBP and to strengthen its oversight of enforcement activities and detention facilities.

In 2026, four people have been shot during ICE enforcement operations: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Johan Sebastián Guerrero in Maine, and Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis. In addition, 22 people have died while in ICE custody. Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva was the latest. He died during a transfer out of the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, just four days after his arrest. Altogether, at least 50 people have died in ICE custody during Trump’s second term.

These deaths occur at a rate that is shocking and unacceptable. But beyond the numbers there is pain and grief. Families have lost loved ones, and communities have lost friends and neighbors.

Urge your legislators to cut back on the huge increases in funding for ICE and CBP and strengthen Congressional oversight of enforcement activities and detention. Say NO to abusive enforcement. Say NO to more attacks on our communities and our immigrant neighbors!

August is grass-roots advocacy month. As Congress takes its recess, let's get to work advocating.

Help raise moral concern for the root cause of this enforcement mess, H.R.1 (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act). Join our multi-religious call to undo the harm, a faith-based moral mandate that’s helpful to all actors.

Covenant For Our Future (CFOF), Week of Action (WOA) Aug. 23 - 30

- RSVP for Aug 24th, WOA Kick-off

- Building the will for work over 2-3 governing cycles

- Multiple faith orgs. participating

- In-district recess activities and more

- CFOF Website

- CFOF 1-pager

- CFOF pledge for private individuals

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During the past year Congress has approved nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars in new enforcement funding for ICE and CBP and is on the verge of approving even more funding in a third reconciliation bill, all without requiring operational guidelines or effective oversight.

Currently there are more than 50,000 people in ICE detention, including pregnant women and children. Reports from detention centers document abusive treatment and poor conditions.
A recent report issued jointly by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union says men and women held at Camp East Montana, located at the U.S. Army's Fort Bliss in El Paso, described being denied necessary medical care, forced to live in filthy conditions and fed inedible meals.
The detainees also reported that they were prevented from contacting their lawyers or family members.
Detainees at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark have complained about unsafe meals, dirty living quarters and bad medical care.
Recent health inspection reports and other public records have confirmed some of the complaints.

The families and friends of those who have been killed during ICE enforcement actions or who have died in ICE custody deserve answers, and taxpayers want accountability.

Congress must fully fund internal DHS oversight offices and must conduct its own robust oversight to ensure that people are treated with dignity and that detention centers meet basic health and safety standards.

UU Grounding

As of General Assembly 2024, as Unitarian Universalists, we have agreed to “adopt new language on core religious values.” We agree love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. The values we share include all the following, which we hold as inseparable and deeply interconnected: Interdependence, Pluralism, Justice, Transformation, Generosity, and Equity. (Read more on the Article II revision process.)

With these agreed core religious values in mind, we also ground our call for action in support of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in the following Unitarian Universalist Statements of Conscience and Actions of Immediate Witness:

Protect the Dreamers, the Recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) with a Pathway to Permanent Residence, 2023 Action of Immediate Witness
Undoing Systemic White Supremacy: A Call to Prophetic Action, 2021 Statement of Conscience
Protect the Rights of Immigrants and Asylum Seekers, 2019 Action of Immediate Witness
End Family Separation and Detention of Asylum Seekers and Abolish ICE, 2018 Action of Immediate Witness
Build Solidarity with our Muslim Neighbors, 2016 Action of Immediate Witness
End Immigrant Child and Family Detention Now, 2015 Action of Immediate Witness
Immigration as a Moral Issue, 2013 Statement of Conscience

Tell Congress
to Stop Abusive Immigration Enforcement
and Detention

We need to urge Congress to cut back on the huge funding increases for ICE and CBP and to strengthen its oversight of enforcement activities and detention facilities.

Currently, there are more than 50,000 people in ICE detention, including pregnant women and children.

Reports from detention centers document abusive treatment and poor conditions.

A recent report issued jointly by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, described being denied necessary medical care, forced to live in filthy conditions and fed inedible meals.

All of Congress

Subject: Stop Abusive Immigration Enforcement and Detention

Message:

As your constituent, I am writing to express my outrage and sadness that that federal immigration agents have again shot and killed two human beings in broad daylight, this time on the streets of Houston, Texas and Bideford, Maine this year and that 50 people have died in ICE custody since January 2025. I urge you to work diligently for increased Congressional oversight of DHS immigration enforcement and detention facilities. Deaths in ICE custody are approaching record levels, and children and families are being detained under conditions that are very concerning. They are forced to live in filthy environments, fed inedible meals, denied needed medical care, and often prevented from contacting their lawyers. Congress approved nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars for mass arrests, detention, and deportations during the past 14 months and is considering still more funding. However, Congress included no operational guidelines needed to keep people safe. Nor did it require independent inspections, reporting requirements, or oversight. At a minimum, I ask that you take action to increase oversight of DHS immigration enforcement and detention by: - Voting NO on any DHS funding that lacks strong guardrails and accountability - Requiring independent investigations and due process when violations occur - Improving detention standards and ending DHS detention of children and families - Ensuring that detainees are able to contact their lawyers and families When people die during enforcement operations or in government custody, their families deserve answers, and taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability. Robust oversight and accountability are needed so that, as our country enters its 251st year, it continues to uphold the principles on which it was founded. I urge you to work diligently for an immigration policy that upholds human dignity and human rights.

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UU Grounding

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