Sign the petition to Congress: Stop funding ICE detention centers IMMEDIATELY!

Congress

The Trump administration is cruelly jeopardizing the lives of immigrants who are in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The already life-threatening conditions of immigration detention have worsened during the COVID pandemic, and reckless deportations have spread the virus abroad.

Detainees have raised concerns over their inability to practice social distancing and lack of sanitation materials — even basic soap to clean their hands and cells. ICE refused to take proactive measures and release large numbers of detained people to lower risk of infection. Now, 60% of detainees ICE has bothered to test have tested positive for COVID-19.

The pandemic risks turning immigration detention into a death sentence for many, yet Trump has rejected calls for mass humanitarian release.

We must have community-based alternatives to immigration detention that are not driven by profit.

Community-based and community-supported alternative programs have operated successfully throughout the world, including the U.S., where nonprofit organizations have stepped in to provide the legal orientation and social service supports asylum seekers and immigrants are not receiving from the government. Additionally, community-based alternatives to detention are often cheaper and have better outcomes, including lower recidivism rates.

We must demand Congress act now. We have to stop lining the pockets of private industries profiting from detention centers and create a humane system immediately.

Sign the petition to Congress: Reduce funding to those responsible for separating families and putting lives at risk. No more ICE detention centers!

Participating Organizations:
Arab American Civic Council
Coalition on Human Needs
Daily Kos
LeftNet
Muslim Public Affairs Council
Progress America
United We Dream Action
Additional Sponsors

To: Congress
From: [Your Name]

We are urging you to move away from this nation’s reliance on immigrant incarceration for management. This is your chance to stop the horrors that occur daily in ICE detention centers. You must reduce funding to ICE for detention operations and shift to community-based alternatives to immigration detention that are not driven by profit.