The Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers) urges members of Congress to reject the House of Representatives’ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill upon full chamber consideration.
The bill, which passed out of committee on July 18, funds an unparalleled expansion of immigration detention, deportation, and border militarization at the expense of U.S. communities’ security.
Our communities and nation are strongest when we stand together and lift up those most vulnerable in our society. Lack of congressional action to overhaul the U.S. immigration system has left millions of people living in the shadows and fearful of imminent separation from family members, prolonged detention, or return to life-threatening situations. Many are left with little or no opportunity to regularize their status under the current system. The only remedy to these injustices is through meaningful and long overdue legislative reforms. Instead, the DHS appropriations bill digs our nation into a larger moral and fiscal hole. The bills funds:
An unprecedented 44,000 beds in immigrant detention, an already bloated system that needlessly houses individuals in dangerous and expensive facilities for over $2 billion every year.
An additional 1,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to patrol U.S. communities. These agents will carry out the indiscriminate deportation and detention of immigrants with long ties to their communities, Dreamers, asylum seekers, beloved family members, and children.
An additional 500 Border Patrol agents. DHS is already unable to fill the current number of agents funded by Congress, and has proposed slashing critical anti-corruption hiring standards to fill these positions. Existing corruption and impunity of Border Patrol agents infringes upon the rights and jeopardizes the safety of U.S. citizens and migrants alike.
Funding for a costly expansion of physical barriers along the southern border, fulfilling President Trump’s full $1.6 billion request. This proposal has been repeatedly renounced by Republican and Democratic lawmakers representing border communities.
FCNL seeks federal policies that embrace the faith principle of welcoming the stranger, restore the United States’ historic tradition of welcoming immigrants and refugees, and treat all individuals with respect. We urge all members of Congress to oppose the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill for FY2018 which runs contrary to these values.
