REINING IN ICE Part 2

The revulsion at the violence, cruelty, lawlessness, and killings by ICE and CBP is growing. Please contact your U.S. Senators and Representative NOW and ask them to block funding for ICE, CBP, and DHS until major reforms make them compliant with the rule of law and the best practices of policing.

The revulsion at the violence, cruelty, terrorizing, lawlessness, and killings by ICE and CBP continues to grow. I urge you to contact your U.S. Senators and Representative NOW and ask them to block funding for ICE, CBP, and DHS until a full house cleaning and a total revamping of their operation make them compliant with the rule of law and the best practices of policing. Also, put March 28 on your calendar for the next No Kings protest.

(Note: If you find a post too long to read, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog!)

(Note: Please follow me and get notices of my blog posts on Bluesky at: @jalippitt.bsky.social. Thanks!)

THANK YOU to the people of Minneapolis and Minnesota for showing us all how to stand up to ICE with dignity, strength, non-violent protest, and community support for vulnerable people. The broad, nationwide revulsion at violence, cruelty, terrorizing, lawlessness, and killings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and their parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to grow. They, Trump, and his administration continue to lie about what they’ve done, are doing, and who they target and detain, as well as to smear and defame their victims.

Everyone, and especially every Republican in Congress and elsewhere, who is not standing up, condemning, and calling for an end to this domestic terrorism in service to an authoritarian president is complicit in this heinous behavior.

My previous post provided an overview of ICE and CBP actions and noted that the cruelty is the point and that the lawlessness is a feature not a bug. It encouraged you to contact your U.S. Senators to ask them to block the budget for ICE until changes were made. The Senate has now passed most of the federal government’s budget for the rest of the year (through Sept. 30), but funded DHS (including ICE and CBP) for only two weeks to allow negotiations over funding amounts and stipulations for full-year funding.

I strongly urge you to contact your U.S. Senators and Representative NOW and to ask them to block the budget for ICE and CBP until major reforms are made. You can call them or email them through their congressional websites. A bill will have to be passed by both the Senate and the House to fund DHS, including ICE and CBP. The level of funding for ICE and CBP should also be dramatically cut from the combined $36 billion a year currently budgeted. [1]

(Contact information for your US Representative is at http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators is at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.)

ICE and CBP should meet the standards of any other police force in the country at a minimum. Additional requirements are also appropriate due to their past behavior and unique role. Here’s a list of some, but not all, of the things Congress should demand before funding ICE and CBP. It’s a long list, as the problems run deep, so pick a few items that resonate with you to mention when you contact your Senators and Representative. Also, feel free to put them in your own words. Let your elected officials know how upset or angry you are. Furthermore, tell them that strong enforcement mechanisms should be included because the track record of ICE, CBP, DHS, and the Trump administration has been to ignore Congress’s funding and policy directives.

Here are options for your message to your elected officials. Do NOT fund ICE or CBP until:

Thorough, credible investigations by local law enforcement of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti are underway with cooperation from all federal officials and agents.
All deaths and violence at the hands of ICE and CBP are and will be credibly investigated. In the last seven months, at least eight people have died and others have been shot in ICE and CBP actions. Furthermore, at least 35 people have died in ICE detention. These are minimum numbers as the Trump administration is obviously working to hide the extent of the violence and deaths. [2]
ICE and CBP agents are prohibited from wearing masks and carrying guns. (If they need armed law enforcement support, they should contact local or state police.)
- ICE and CBP agents are required to wear personal identification. (As police officers do.)
- ICE and CBP agents are required to have warrants from judges to arrest someone or search their home or vehicle. (As local and state police officers do.)
- ICE and CBP agents are required to wear body cameras at all times and to activate them whenever they are engaged in enforcement activities.
- ICE and CBP agents are required to pass background checks and have training equivalent to what a local or state police officer receives. Current agents who don’t meet these criteria are fired but allowed to reapply under these standards.
- ICE and CBP commit to the same standards of behavior, operation, discipline, and investigation of officers as state and local police. Among other things, this would stop racial / ethnic profiling and performance quotas.
- It’s made clear that ICE and CBP agents do NOT have immunity from prosecution under state laws.
- Arrests at sensitive locations are banned, such as courthouses, hospitals, schools, daycare providers, shelters, and places of worship.
- Detention and deportation of legal residents is ended.
- Detention and deportation of undocumented residents is ended unless they have a serious criminal conviction. This comports with what Trump and his administration say they are doing.
- Detention of caregivers of children and of children is ended. In these situations, federal agents should contact and coordinate with state child welfare agencies.
- ICE and CBP agents are only allowed to operate away from the border when they have a judicial warrant for the arrest of a specific individual.
- Targeting cities and states for political reasons is banned.
- Strong oversight and humane conditions at detention facilities are required.
- Requests or agreements that state or local police perform ICE or CBP duties are banned.
The leaders of ICE and CBP, starting from the top with DHS Secretary Noem, should resign or be impeached, and should be disciplined or prosecuted for their illegal actions. For example, for the detentions of U.S. citizens and those with no criminal record; for illegal deportations, violence, and forced entries into people’s homes; and for violations of judges’ orders.

As this list makes clear, the problems at ICE, CBP, and DHS are very serious and deep-seated. Please encourage your Senators and Representative to demand a full house cleaning and a total revamping of ICE and CBP to make them compliant with the rule of law and the best practices of policing.

A major, nationwide protest of ICE, CBP, and the Trump administration is being planned for No Kings Day 3 on Sat., March 28. A general strike may be organized in conjunction with this day of protest. Please put March 28 on your calendar now and plan to participate in and support the protest however you can.

[1] Hubbell, R., 1/29/26, “The people have put their lives on the line to resist ICE; Senate Democrats must now do their part to reform ICE from the ground up,” Today’s Edition Newsletter (https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/the-people-have-put-their-lives-on)

[2] Curry Wimbish, W., 1/29/26, “A running count of how many people ICE has killed and injured,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/2026/01/29/ice-trump-killed-injured-list-dhs-cbp-border-patrol-renee-good-alex-pretti/)

REINING IN ICE

ICE’s lawlessness, cruelty, and violence are well documented. PLEASE contact your U.S. Senators NOW. Ask them to block ICE’s budget until thorough, local investigations of ICE killings are underway and unless it includes strong accountability and transparency measures.

The Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency’s record of lawlessness, cruelty, and unnecessary violence is well documented. Its budget is under consideration in Congress now. I urge you to contact your U.S. Senators NOW and ask them to block the budget for ICE until thorough, local investigations of the recent killings are underway and unless it includes strong accountability and transparency measures.

(Note: If you find a post too long to read, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog!)

(Note: Please follow me and get notices of my blog posts on Bluesky at: @jalippitt.bsky.social. Thanks!)

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency’s record of lawlessness, cruelty, and unnecessary violence (aimed at detainees, protesters, peaceful monitors, and bystanders) is well documented. It and the Trump administration routinely lie about what it’s done and who it targets and detains. Increasingly, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which historically operated on the border, is joining ICE in its actions well away from the border. Both ICE and CBP are agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), headed by Secretary Kristi Noem. It’s clear that for ICE, CBP, and DHS:

Cruelty is the point (for intimidation and political purposes), and
Lawlessness is a feature not a bug, i.e., intentional and not a mistake.

The American public strongly supports reining in ICE, both in terms of its scale and scope, as well as its violent and lawless behavior. It’s critical, and past time, that Congress do everything it can to rein in ICE. Its budget is under consideration in Congress now. The House narrowly passed its budget with no significant provisions to rein in ICE. I strongly encourage you to contact your U.S. Senators NOW and ask them to block the budget for ICE until:

Thorough investigations by local law enforcement of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti are underway with cooperation from all federal officials and agents.

And to oppose any ICE budget that doesn’t include strong accountability and transparency measures including:

Prohibiting ICE agents from wearing masks and carrying guns. (If they need law enforcement support, they should contact local or state police.)
- Requiring them to wear personal identification. (All local and state police officers do.)
- Requiring them to have warrants from judges to arrest someone or enter someone’s home. (As local and state police officers do.)
- Clarifying that ICE agents do NOT have immunity from prosecution under state laws.

(Contact information for your US Senators is at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.)

ICE’s budget should be cut. It has grown faster than can be responsibly implemented and spent, while also being inappropriately larger than other agencies. The Trump / Republican budget bill in July doubled the ICE budget to $19 billion a year with an additional $17 billion a year for CBP. For the sake of comparison, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) got less than $1 billion a year, and the FBI’s budget is just $11 billion.

ICE’s leaders, starting from the top with DHS Secretary Noem, should be impeached or disciplined for their illegal actions. For example, for the detentions of U.S. citizens and those with no criminal record; for illegal deportations, use of violence, and forced entries into people’s homes; and for violations of judges’ orders.

Here are a few figures that highlight the scale of ICE and its actions: [1]

As of August 2025, over 60,000 people were in ICE detention and 70% of them had no criminal convictions.
Roughly 200,000 people have been deported in 2025 through August. Over 50,000 of them were children under twelve and over 20,000 of them were under 5 years old.
Under Trump, the overall number of monthly detentions has tripled to roughly 45,000. Fifteen thousand of them had criminal records (up 50% from under Biden), 15,000 had pending criminal charges (but no convictions) (up 200%), while 15,000 had no criminal record (up 1,400%). Clearly, the Trump administration’s rhetoric about detaining only serious criminals is a lie. Under President Biden, ICE detained about 15,000 people per month. Ten thousand had criminal records and 5,000 had pending criminal charges, while 1,000 or fewer had no criminal record.
ICE is clearly targeting states for political reasons (i.e., where Democrats are in control and not those with Republicans in control). For example, Texas, with an estimated 1.7 million undocumented immigrants and Florida with about one million have the 2^nd and 3^rd largest numbers of undocumented immigrants (after California with about two million). However, there have not been big efforts by ICE to detain immigrants in Texas and Florida. However, Minnesota, with fewer than 100,000 undocumented immigrants and Maine with 5,000 are currently experiencing large ICE detention campaign.

By the way, there is lots of good news, on the ICE front as well as elsewhere! For example, Jess Craven’s Chop Wood Carry Water blog’s most recent good news Sunday posts here and here include:

Spotify has stopped running ICE recruitment ads.
Avelo Airlines has stopped deportation flights. (They say it’s part of ‘streamlining its network’ but I believe that protests and boycotts are a big reason.)
Six federal prosecutors and an FBI agent have resigned due to the Justice Department’s failure to appropriately investigate the shooting of Renee Good.
Minneapolis residents in huge numbers are protesting, as well as organizing and volunteering to support immigrant members of their community. Truly inspiring!!
A judge ruled that ICE and DHS can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters.
Clergy occupied Target headquarters in Minneapolis and got a meeting with the CEO to ask him to stop letting ICE in their stores.
57% of Americans now view ICE unfavorably and a slight plurality favor abolishing it.
58% of Americans now say that Trump’s second term has been a failure.
Facing backlash, the Trump administration restored over $2 billion in mental health and addiction funding, just one day after announcing cuts.
Congress, in its work on the budget, is quietly rejecting almost all the deepest cuts to federal programs that Trump requested, rebuking his efforts to slash funding for foreign aid, global health, scientific research, the arts, and more in a bipartisan repudiation.
A federal judge in California became the second one to dismissa Justice Department case seeking to force state officials to give the department an unredacted list of the state’s voters.
CBS Evening News’ audience is down 23% probably due to its new, right-wing slant.
Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) filed articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Noem for obstruction of Congress, violation of the public trust, and self-dealing. Over 50 House Democrats have signed on as co-sponsors.
The Washington National Opera will move its performances out of the Kennedy Center, in perhaps the largest rebuke yet to Trump’s renaming of the Kennedy Center with his name.
Democratic and Republican Senators agreed unanimously to mount a plaque honoring the Capitol police officers who fought Trump’s insurrection mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Republican House Speaker Johnson has refused to mount the plaque, which is required by law.
More than 1,000 companies are suing the Trump administration over tariffs, demanding refunds.
A major Catholic newspaper called Vice President JD Vance a “moral stain” and accused him of having a “twisted and wrongheaded view of Christianity”.

[1] Mother Jones, Nov./Dec. 2025, “American gulag,” (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/10/american-gulag-immigration-police-state-ice-deportation-detention-centers-trump-miller/)