Rep. Grijalva Statement on Government Appropriations Package, Funding for DHS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Adelita S. Grijalva released the following statement after voting against an appropriations package that included a Continuing Resolution for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which funds Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  

“ICE, and the mandate it serves, has been corrupted to the core. That corruption needs to be rooted out and dismantled,” said Congresswoman Grijalva. “I cannot in good conscience support funding that enables violence, racial profiling, and the terrorization of communities across the country, including of the people I represent in Arizona. While reforms like mandating body cameras, banning masks, protecting sensitive locations, and requiring judicial warrants are necessary, they are also the bare minimum. All federal agents should already be respecting the Constitution and the rights it guarantees. Compliance with constitutional protections and basic standards that apply to every other local law enforcement officer in the country should not be up for debate.  

“The killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti should be an inflection point for Congress to think critically about what our immigration policies seek to achieve. Do we want to be a country that celebrates diversity, rewards hard work, and protects the rights and dignity of all? Or are we content with the status quo — maskless raids in our neighborhoods, families torn apart, and civilians shot to death?”

“ICE has already been handed $75 billion through Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill — paid for on the backs of working families and children who are losing access to SNAP and Medicaid. Congress should rescind this taxpayer slush fund that is being used by DHS to attack our communities, and DHS must end the militarization of cities across the country.”