Washington, DC — In response to the government shut down, Setareh Ghandehari advocacy director of Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement:
“The Trump administration is continuing to scapegoat immigrants for the failures of the federal government, but it is clear who is truly responsible for the government shutdown. Since January, Trump has prioritized cruel and callous immigration enforcement at the expense of critical needs for all Americans, most prominently life-saving and accessible healthcare. Trump’s MAGA-backed megabill that passed in June directed billions of taxpayer dollars toward the targeting, detention, and deportation of immigrants, while cutting Medicaid and critical programs as families nationwide are struggling to stay afloat. For months, people across the country, through town halls, letter writing campaigns, and more, have rejected this cruel agenda and are calling on their elected leaders to prioritize investment in programs that support millions of Americans like healthcare, food assistance, and education.
The MAGA megabill provided a shocking $150 billion for the targeting, detention, and deportation of people, including $45 billion for ICE detention to detain families and adults over the next four years. It was 13 times ICE’s current fiscal budget, which is already operating at a historic high, and will be in addition to ICE’s annual budget that Congress greenlights each year. All Americans will continue to feel the impact of Trump’s mass detention and deportation agenda and Trump and Stephen Miller will stop at nothing to see it through, including jeopardizing the health and well-being of everyone in this country.
We call for an immediate end to the government shutdown currently affecting millions of people’s livelihoods, and we demand that Congress cut funding for Trump’s mass detention and deportation agenda, and instead redirect funding into healthcare, education, and housing that supports everyone.”
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Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States.