Now is the time to change the approach to migration and to build a society that is centered on safety, dignity, freedom, and justice – where we welcome people, keep each other safe, and honor the vast contributions immigrants make. New policy shall be based in the following principles:
Freedom to move across borders to seek safety, security, and a better future
An end to immigration detention which is inherently harmful, violent and unnecessary
Expanded lawful migration pathways that recognize the myriad reason why people migrate and to protect the rights of all workers
Structural change requires incremental steps along the way to reduce immediate harm and show how our vision can begin to take shape. The following demands can be achieved in the shorter term to build the path towards a future without ICE:
Zero out ICE funding and invest in communities: Cut off funding and resources through the appropriations process and other legislation. Redirect those funds towards things like schools, health care, food and housing for everyone.
Halt violent ICE tactics: Stop ICE from targeting, harassing, intimidating, arresting, detaining and killing our immigrant neighbors and those who love and support them.
Shut down detention centers: End the detention system by shutting down detention centers and blocking new expansion through state, local, and federal action.
Decriminalize migration: Halt all immigration related criminal prosecutions through executive and legislative action and roll back laws that entangle the criminal punishment and immigration system.
End local collaboration with ICE: End ICE collaboration with police, sheriffs, and other law enforcement at the local level. Block the use of local/state resources supporting ICE detaining and deporting our neighbors.
Cultivate safety: Create ICE watch and mutual aid programs in neighborhoods and community spaces to prevent ICE arrests and provide support to immigrants in need.
Created by Congress in 2003 as part of the domestic War on Terror, ICE linked civil immigration and national security for the first time, emboldening ICE to not just criminalize some groups of immigrants (as laws passed in 1996 had done), but to treat all migrants as potential threats. The agency had a mandate to target people based on where they work, what they look like, and the language they speak, destabilizing communities, separating families, and putting people’s lives at risk.
Throughout its brief history, advocates, government inspectors, members of Congress, and media have extensively and repeatedly documented ICE’s culture of violence and secrecy. ICE regularly lies, actively hides information from the public, and retaliates against those who speak out. It thwarts attempts at oversight, transparency, and accountability at every turn. In its growing detention system, ICE subjects people to medical neglect, verbal and physical abuse, overcrowding, moldy food, faulty plumbing, and rampant transfers that disappear people into the detention system, sowing confusion and cutting people off from their loved ones and support networks.
The grim reality of Trump’s mass detention and deportation agenda has fueled renewed disapproval of ICE, growing more widespread than ever before. Our tax dollars need to be used to strengthen our families and communities, not to target, detain and deport our immigrant friends and neighbors. Americans see the astronomical budget ICE operates with while people go without adequate investments in housing, food, education, and more. Now is the time to End the ICE Age once and for all.
