Grassroots Coalition Urge NYC Congressional Delegation To #DefundHate

Dear NYC Congressional Delegation,

The Trump immigration agenda is rooted in fear-mongering, division, and hate. And without a proper check on this agenda, the list of atrocities has grown. Between the continued separation of families; children in cages; concentration camps on our southern border with overcrowded and inhumane conditions; Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids terrorizing our communities; and hateful words spewed at your colleagues, Congresswomen, all women of color; there is no denying that the cruelty is the point.

New Yorkers worked hard to help Democrats win back the House, traveling to districts from Riverhead to Staten Island to the Hudson Valley, and even to New Jersey and Pennsylvania and beyond, to knock on doors and tell our fellow citizens that a vote for a Democrat was a vote for holding the Trump administration accountable.

Now, it’s time for this president and his administration’s racist, hateful policies to end. And we know that the best way to do that, this year, is through the appropriations process. The Constitution gives Congress — not the White House — the sole power to appropriate money. That means that you can define the terms of this debate through the appropriations process.

With the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill making its way through committee, it’s now up to you to hold strong and fight for key amendments to #DefundHate and demand more humane responses at the border. Which is why we as a coalition of grassroots organizations from across the city urge you to:

• Vote to reduce funding to the DHS, ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection(CBP) to “FY16” levels. Funding levels for ICE and CBP have dramatically increased since the agencies were created in 2003 — yes, even under Obama. But under Trump, the increases have been striking; detentions have exploded by about 50% under Trump creating higher cost while also harming those seeking asylum.
• Vote to include requirements for DHS and CBP to reduce detention by implementing Alternatives to Detention (ATD). Reinstitute the Family Case Management Program or expand Community Based Case Management programs (recommended by DHS Advisory Committee). Alternatives to detention are more humane and less costly.
• Cut the $387 million slush fund that will allow ICE to continue terrorizing immigrant communities. The first draft of the bill included $387 million for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) — money that Trump will use to fuel his deportation machine.

Now is the time to fight for our New York values and to stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable among us.

Sincerely,

Brooklyn Resisters

Downtown Women For Change

Empire State Indivisible

Fight Back Bay Ridge

Greater NYC For Change

Hearts Across Queens

Hell’s Kitchen Democrats

Indivisible Activate NYC

Indivisible Brooklyn

Indivisible Harlem

Indivisible Nation BK

Indivisible UES

Inwood Indivisible

Morningside Heights Resistance

NE Queens Indivisible

NY Indivisible

One Queens Indivisible

Persist NY

Rockland United

South Bronx Indivisible

To Do List Indivisible

True Blue New York

Upper West Side MoveOn/Indivisible Action Group