Urge Congress to Cut ICE Funding and End the Expansion of Detention
As we enter the New Year, Congress is considering proposals that would dramatically expand immigration detention in the United States. The House and Senate are debating additional funding for immigration enforcement and detention, on top of the unprecedented $45 billion already allocated to ICE last year through the reconciliation bill.
This expansion is not theoretical. As of December 22, 2025, ICE was detaining a record-breaking 68,442 people nationwide. Behind that number are families separated, parents taken from children, workers removed from their communities, and people locked inside a system that has repeatedly proven deadly and inhumane.
At Ashrei Foundation, we know that detention does not create safety. It creates instability, fear, and long-term harm.
Detention Is a Policy Choice, Not a Necessity
Research consistently shows that immigration detention is not required to ensure compliance with immigration processes. Dr. Austin Kocher, a leading scholar on immigration enforcement and detention, has documented how detention expansion is driven by political decisions rather than public safety needs. His work demonstrates that community-based alternatives are far more humane, cost-effective, and successful at ensuring people attend court hearings.
Despite this evidence, Congress continues to fund detention as the default response. Expanding detention capacity does not solve systemic challenges in the immigration system. It entrenches them.
The Human Cost We See Every Day
Ashrei’s Immigration Justice work is grounded in the reality faced by the families we serve. When someone is detained, the consequences ripple outward. Children lose caregivers. Families lose income. Communities lose neighbors. People lose access to legal counsel, healthcare, and basic dignity.
Detention makes people more vulnerable, not less. It increases the likelihood of prolonged incarceration, coerced decisions in immigration proceedings, and long-term trauma. For those who are undocumented, refugees, or seeking asylum, detention often compounds the violence they are already fleeing.
We also see how detention intersects with other barriers. Without identification, legal support, or stable housing, people are more likely to be swept into enforcement systems and less able to advocate for themselves once detained. That is why Ashrei’s work across ID access, rapid response, and immigration justice is deeply connected.
More Funding Means More Harm
Adding new detention beds does not make our communities safer. It guarantees that more people will be locked up. It guarantees more family separation. It guarantees more deaths in custody and more suffering hidden behind walls.
Congress has a choice. Lawmakers can continue to pour billions into a system that causes harm, or they can invest in community-based solutions that respect human dignity and keep families together.
Take Action: Write Your Members of Congress
We need you to act now.
Tell your Senators and Representative to oppose any increase in funding for ICE and immigration detention. Urge them to cut funding for detention and redirect resources toward humane, community-based alternatives.
Your voice matters. When constituents speak up, lawmakers listen.
Write a letter today and tell Congress: Stop funding ICE. Stop expanding detention. Choose dignity, safety, and justice instead.
Together, we can push back against policies that harm families and demand an immigration system rooted in humanity.
