WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, 18 national and state Latino, immigrant, and civil rights organizations sent a letter to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate committees with oversight of immigration enforcement. The letter congratulates the leaders on their new majorities and urges them to rein in ICE, starting with day-one subpoenas for mass deportation architect Stephen Miller and the other perpetrators of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. It comes less than a week after Latino turnout surged and helped deliver those majorities. Just three days after election day, Trump named Miller as his White House chief of staff.
The signers include America’s Voice, Hispanic Federation, Latino Victory Project, Mi Familia Vota, Poder Latinx, UnidosUS, and Voto Latino. State groups from Arizona, Georgia, and Texas also signed on, including GALEO Impact Fund, La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), and LUCHA.
Statement from Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Our message is clear: we demand accountability for the fear and suffering this Administration has inflicted on our families and communities. Latino voters turned out in historic numbers and delivered a sharp rebuke of the Trump-Miller mass deportation machine that targeted the entire Latino population in America and brought fear and lawlessness to every corner of America. Trump responded to the electoral tidal wave by promoting the person responsible for mass deportations. Today, Latino organizations from across the country are speaking with one voice. The new Congress now has the power to rein in ICE and hold them responsible for its violent, lawless tactics, and we stand ready to help them use it from day one. Families have buried loved ones, watched parents ripped from their children, and paid the ICE Tax out of their wallets. They deserve answers under oath and they deserve accountability.”
The letter lays out what that agenda has cost. At least 62 people have died in ICE custody under this administration. Federal immigration agents have killed U.S. citizens, including Ruben Ray Martinez in Texas and Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota. An estimated 205,000 children, about 145,000 of them U.S. citizens, have had a parent detained. The organizations also point to the “ICE Tax,” the higher prices for food, housing, and home health care that every family pays when the government chooses mass deportation.
The organizations pledge to work alongside the new Congressional majorities, bringing the stories of affected families and the evidence of what this agenda has cost. “At this critical moment, you have the power to deliver accountability and change, and we stand ready to help,” they write.
The organizations call on Congress to:
- Make Stephen Miller the first witness, with a subpoena for his sworn testimony and his records on day one.
- Issue day-one subpoenas to Tom Homan, Markwayne Mullin, and David Venturella for public testimony under oath and for records on deaths in custody, the detention of children, and the killing of U.S. citizens.
- Freeze new ICE spending and contracts until Congress has a full accounting of how the agency has spent the money it already has.
Read the full letter here.
Read more on this story in NBC News.
