Letter on Hearing Titled “How Mass Deportations Will Separate American Families, Harm Our Armed Forces, and Devastate Our Economy”

President-elect Trump has promised to build massive detention camps, conduct sweeping raids, and forcibly remove beloved and
longstanding members of our communities from our country. These plans will tear families apart, devastating countless communities and industries across the country. As you prepare to defend against this expected harm, our 132 civil rights, human rights, faith-based, children's rights, and immigrant rights organizations implore you to recognize the role of Congress in enabling or preventing these operations and take appropriate action to defend immigrant communities in ongoing funding and budget negotiations.
 

Throughout the coming months, there will be multiple opportunities for members to restrict resources for the abusive immigration enforcement programs that would drive mass deportations. Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 funding levels remain unresolved, with negotiations likely to be extended into the next Congress. Meanwhile, we expect to see the Trump administration weaponize the budget reconciliation process in an effort to extract the exorbitant taxpayer dollars needed to implement his enforcement plans. Our communities need Congress to act as the first line of defense and to use its budgetary, fiscal, and authorizing power to deny the next administration the funding necessary to carry out their inhumane and costly attack on immigrants.