January 26, 2026

Dear Senator:

On behalf of the Coalition on Human Needs, we urge you to prioritize human needs by separating the FY 2026 Homeland Security appropriations bill from the larger appropriations package on the floor this week. The reckless, lawless actions of DHS require you to reject the FY 2026 DHS appropriations bill as it now stands. Please weigh in with Senate Leadership urging them to break off DHS funding from consideration in the larger package. CHN calls on the Senate to reject any new funds for ICE and other federal immigration enforcement until federal agents leave Minneapolis and other communities and policymakers can negotiate substantial, enforceable reforms to stop the deadly and destructive practices now harming communities across the country. We oppose a package that increases funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without meaningful reforms. Congress must do more to rein in DHS — and we urge you to move prevent ICE and CBP from receiving a single additional dollar to expand a system that is already cruel, dangerous, and profoundly inhumane. Time is of the essence; please work to pass key FY 2026 appropriations bills while charting a new course on DHS funding.

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 and the escalation of violence in communities across the country, including the shocking fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by DHS agents and multiple other incidents of violence. Our network is also sounding the alarm about the inhumane and deadly conditions in ICE detention facilities along with terrifying enforcement tactics that destabilize entire communities. The tragic deaths of Mr. Pretti, Ms. Good, and others requires a full investigation, as does ICE’s conduct of detention; these reviews 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.

We appreciate all the work that has gone into finalizing FY 2026 appropriations, and the importance of funding for human needs programs like housing and education in pending appropriations bills. We appreciate work to protect key programs in the other bills, 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 fall painfully short of what is needed to confront the violence and chaos we’re seeing across the country. Congress must not funnel millions of additional dollars into a system that is already tearing families apart and putting lives at risk– and it is critical that the Senate does not pit funding for key human needs programs that help people survive against the urgent need to stand up to lawless immigration actions that threaten communities. We at CHN, and many other human needs advocates, strongly urge you to separate DHS funding from other programs – and will oppose a broader appropriations package if it includes the current DHS bill.

This is a moment for leadership, courage, and moral clarity – please work with colleagues to move forward on appropriations legislation this week that separates out the DHS appropriations bill.

Sincerely yours,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director