Editor’s note: Congress remains divided on how to advance a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill, with the Senate needing 60 votes to move forward and currently lacking sufficient support. CHN, along with other advocates continues to push for enforceable limits on immigration enforcement agencies like ICE and CBP, including requirements for judicial warrants and restrictions on activity in sensitive locations. The letter CHN sent to the Senate, included below, outlines these provisions. Congress is scheduled to leave at the end of the week for a two-week recess, which could be delayed if an agreement is not reached.

March 26, 2026 

Dear Senator: 

On behalf of the Coalition on Human Needs, we urge you to vote NO today on the proposal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, which includes additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

At this stage in negotiations, Congress should not provide further funding to ICE and Border Patrol without meaningful reductions, enforceable limits, and real accountability. These agencies have already received unprecedented levels of funding, including approximately $75 billion through last year’s reconciliation law. Yet the expansion of resources has not produced improved accountability or reduced harm. Instead, enforcement operations continue to destabilize communities and undermine access to basic needs. 

The Coalition on Human Needs represents human service providers, faith communities, policy experts, civil rights and labor organizations, and others committed to meeting the needs of people with low incomes. Our members consistently report that enforcement actions create fear that keeps families from accessing health care, food assistance, housing support, education, and workplace protections. Expanding enforcement funding without reform directly undermines these systems and the communities they serve. We urge you to continue opposing any additional funding for ICE and Border Patrol until: 

• Their FY2026 funding levels are reduced; 

• The expansive reconciliation funds already provided are restricted and redirected toward human needs programs; and 

• Enforceable, actionable reforms are implemented to ensure accountability and prevent ongoing harms. 

Proposals currently under discussion fall short of this standard. Even the potential agreement to exclude ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, approximately $5.4 billion, does not meaningfully constrain ICE’s overall capacity when tens of billions remain available through reconciliation funding. Partial reductions of this kind are insufficient to address the scale of enforcement activity or its consequences. 

At the same time, there are viable alternatives. Proposals exist in both the Senate and the House to fund all non-enforcement DHS components, including FEMA, TSA, Coast Guard, and CISA, while withholding funding for ICE, CBP, and the Office of the Secretary as negotiations over reforms continue. These approaches would maintain essential government operations and ensure federal workers do not face additional hardship, while preserving leverage to secure meaningful changes. 

Instead, the Senate is again being asked to advance a DHS funding bill that has already failed to gain sufficient support. This proposal would increase funding by approximately $10 billion for ICE and $17.7 billion for CBP, layering additional appropriations on top of the substantial resources already provided. These increases would further expand detention, surveillance, and enforcement operations without the necessary guardrails to prevent harm. 

Congress has the authority and responsibility to ensure that federal funding aligns with accountability, effectiveness, and the well-being of communities. At a time of constrained resources and competing priorities, continuing to allocate billions more to already overfunded enforcement agencies without enforceable limits is fiscally and operationally unsound. 

We ask you to vote NO on this DHS funding bill that does not meet the moment and to support a path forward that reduces enforcement funding, imposes meaningful constraints, and redirects resources toward programs that strengthen families and communities.

Sincerely yours,
Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs