Each year, the federal government spends over $25 Billion on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to fund a system that cages and abuses immigrants and people seeking asylum at our borders. Will you take action with SURJ and make a gift to our partner Detention Watch Network (DWN) to demand that Congress #DefundHate and invest in people?
By taking action with DWN, you will join a powerful coalition of directly-impacted communities and organizations, advocates, and faith leaders who have already pressured Congress to block nearly $12 Billion in funding for ICE and CBP — funds that come directly from our tax dollars.
We believe that the people’s money should fund investments in education, housing, healthcare, and green infrastructure and jobs rather than spending millions on splitting up and caging families.
Despite campaign promises to undo Trump’s damage and welcome immigrants, the Biden administration has over 25,000 people in ICE detention, double the number since Biden took office — the vast majority in recent months are folks seeking asylum. COVID-19 continues to ravage those in the close-quartered facilities. As of earlier this month, over 1,200 people had active, reported COVID cases, and there were outbreaks at several detention centers. If these trends continue, thousands of children will be separated from their families, tens of thousands will suffer in unsafe and unsanitary holding cells, and hundreds more will get sick and die from COVID.
We can put a stop to this, but we need your help. Here are 3 ways you can take action today to #DefundHate and close detention centers:
- #DefundHate National Advocacy Days this Wednesday, Thursday or Friday:
- Call your Congressperson, using the #DefundHate Toolkit to put on the pressure!
- Sign the petition to tell members of Congress to cut funding for ICE and CBP
- Call your Senators and House representatives using Detention Watch Network’s script to share a message of solidarity, and use your voice for justice
- Be visible in your support of #DefundHate and share social media graphics and use the hashtag #DefundHate to spread the word
- Make a gift to Detention Watch Network to help us grow our networks and activate hundreds of thousands of supporters across the country
2. As more detention centers are on the brink of shutting down due to powerful organizing, we need to demand releases not transfers. Communities across the country including in Irwin, Georgia, have ended their ICE detention contracts! However, currently-detained people in other detention centers like those in New Jersey are under the threat of transfers due to retaliation from ICE. We need your help to demand Free Them All: releases not transfers!
- Send a message to President Biden: https://www.whitehouse.gov/get-involved/write-or-call/
- Call the ICE Headquarters: 202-732-3000
- Sample script: “Hi, my name is ______, and I am calling/writing to urge that people in ICE custody in New Jersey and detention centers across the nation be released, not transferred to another detention center. We urge the White House and ICE to release everyone to be reunited with loved ones in community, not be behind bars in detention during a deadly global pandemic. Thank you.”
We must use our voice, our resources, and our collective power to act in solidarity with directly-affected communities and in alignment with our belief that we are not free until all of us are free. This week, almost 200 advocates trained by Detention Watch Network will meet with members of Congress before the impending September 30th fiscal year deadline to demand a bill that puts our people first and will #DefundHate. Will you make a gift to Detention Watch Network today and take action to put pressure on the Biden administration and Congress to #DefundHate?
