FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@freedomforimmigrants.org
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the Senate Committee on Appropriations released the proposed spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal year 2023, allocating billions of taxpayer dollars to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The bill includes a $15 million divestment from ICE’s budget to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and a near $100 million reduction in funding for ICE’s electronic monitoring program. However, the proposed bill increases CBP’s budget by $1.7 billion, and increases funding for border agents and border surveillance technology. The following statement is from Layla Razavi, interim co-executive director of Freedom for Immigrants (FFI), a national organization working to abolish immigration detention in favor of more humane programs and policies.
“We applaud the Senate Appropriations Committee for taking a significant and unprecedented step by divesting resources from ICE’s cruel and inhumane agenda and investing them in a pilot program administered by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. ICE is responsible for unconscionable, routine human rights abuses, which Freedom for Immigrants and others have documented and brought to light time and again for over a decade. Reducing the number of people in detention and moving public resources away from ICE’s bloated multi-billion dollar budget and toward the public good signals a significant step forward for our communities that have fought for years to champion the humanity and dignity of immigrants.
“We are happy to see that the Committee has also slashed $100 million in funding for ICE’s pervasive electronic monitoring and surveillance system. As documented by FFI and other advocates, alternatives to detention that rely on shackling, surveillance and other forms of electronic monitoring inflict severe and lasting harm upon immigrants, the effects of which ripple across entire communities.
“Now, we encourage the House Appropriations Committee to match these efforts and support reallocation of public resources toward non-carceral and non-punitive community-based programs that support immigrant families.
“However, we are disheartened that, once again, a positive step forward for immigrants who have arrived to this country comes at the expense of border communities and migrants seeking protection at the southern border. As we continue to fight for abolition and the liberation of all people, FFI stands in solidarity with the many community groups along the southern border in denouncing the increased militarization and surveillance at the border.”
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Freedom for Immigrants is devoted to abolishing immigration detention, while ending the isolation of people currently suffering in this profit-driven system. Visit https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/ to learn more.