Editor’s note: CHN sent the letter below to the all members of the U.S. House of Representatives on January 22, 2026. CHN hosted a Rapid Response Webinar on FY 2026 Appropriations on January 20, you can watch the recording here and see helpful links in our Resource Library here.

Dear Representative: 

On behalf of the Coalition on Human Needs, we urge you to reject the FY 2026 Homeland Security appropriations bill or any measure that will increase funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Instead of giving DHS more funding without meaningful oversight, Congress must do more to rein in DHS — and we urge you to prevent ICE from receiving a single additional dollar to expand a system that is already cruel, dangerous, and profoundly inhumane. 

The Coalition on Human Needs is made up of human service providers, faith groups, policy experts, and civil rights, labor, and other organizations concerned with meeting the needs of people with low incomes. Many of our members, along with the American public, are outraged at the attacks on immigrant communities, including the shocking fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent and multiple other incidents of violence, along with the inhumane and deadly conditions in ICE detention facilities.  The tragic death of Ms. Good and others requires a full investigation, as does ICE’s conduct of detention; these should precede funding decisions. Families are being torn apart, and basic human dignity is routinely denied. Pouring more money into this system will only magnify the harm. 

Congress has already provided ICE with tens of billions of dollars through the 2025 reconciliation legislation, providing for an unprecedented multi-year expansion of immigration detention. That funding has not led to safer conditions or stronger accountability. Instead, detention is deadlier, conditions more horrific, and violations of due process more widespread. People are dying in ICE custody at alarming rates, with 32 deaths in 2025, matching a previous high of more than 20 years ago. ICE’s existing facilities already subject people to medical neglect, abuse, prolonged confinement, and life-threatening conditions. Expanding this infrastructure guarantees more suffering, more deaths, and deeper trauma for families and communities.  

Despite this, the draft FY2026 DHS appropriations bill includes $3.84 billion into detention, and increase of $400 million over FY 2025, along with $5.45 billion for enforcement, an increase of $370 million. These funding increases come on top of massive increases ($45 billion for ICE alone) for attacks on immigrant and other communities at the expense of human needs programs enacted in last summer’s reconciliation package. Providing even more funding without sufficient guardrails in place to keep our neighbors and loved ones safe is a mistake. Clearly, we’ve seen that recording ICE agents as they terrorize communities is insufficient to rein in staff – so body cameras and staff training will not stop harmful actions taking place in communities across the country. And while we note the bill includes funding for the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to inspect detention facilities, it lacks adequate accountability measures to force ICE agents to adhere to the OIG’s findings. We have seen that this administration, and those before, are willing to ignore horrific conditions in immigration detention and nothing in this legislation will enforce any changes.  

As government funding negotiations move forward, Congress has a clear moral responsibility to stop the escalation of violence against immigrants and their families, and the general public engaged in peaceful witness. Any increase in detention and enforcement—on top of the massive sums ICE already controls—would further entrench a system built on fear and incarceration, not justice. We appreciate all the work that has gone into finalizing FY 2026 appropriations, and note that the House also will consider important funding for human needs programs like housing and education today. We appreciate work to protect key programs in that other package, along with the inclusion of some guardrails to prevent the administration from shifting funds and measures to ensure adequate federal staffing levels. Yet, your consideration specifically of the DHS bill is not “business as usual”, and the proposed reporting requirements and other tweaks to oversight in that bill do not adequately rein in the violence and chaos we’re seeing across the country. Congress must not funnel millions of additional dollars into this system. 

Immigration detention is not only ineffective and wasteful—it is a moral failure. Our neighbors and community members should not be treated as disposable or locked away to score political points. Congress must choose humanity over cruelty and the rule of law over reckless violence.  We urge you to refuse to fund policies that inflict harm, and to reject this DHS appropriations bill pending investigations of ICE conduct, reject any increase in funding for immigration detention and enforcement, and take a clear stand against further investment in immigration jails. This is a moment for leadership, courage, and moral clarity – please vote no on the DHS appropriations bill. 

Sincerely yours, 

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director