The Council joined more than 130 other organizations in calling on the Biden administration to limit funding for draconian immigration enforcement in its FY 2023 budget and instead invest in community-based support programs and in providing appointed counsel. The letter includes the following priorities:
- Dramatically decrease funding for immigration detention;
- Fund community-based support programs in place of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) existing “alternatives to detention” program;
- Provide appointed legal representation to immigrant adults and families through the Department of Justice, and to unaccompanied children through the Department of Health and Human Services;
- Decrease funding for immigrant and border surveillance; and
- Decrease the size of the ICE and Border Patrol agent force.
