BURLINGTON, VT—U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today announced his opposition to any government funding package that provides additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):
“Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has turned the mission of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) upside down, away from immigration enforcement and into an aggressive paramilitary force that terrorizes our communities, interferes with local policing, and makes our communities less safe. She has abused her authority—I will not support a funding bill that gives her a blank check to fund ICE’s inhumane tactics and excessive force.
“Under Secretary Noem, ICE agents are armed, masked, and given license to do whatever they want. People are being injured and killed—including Renee Nicole Good, who should be alive today. Families are being torn apart. Untrained officers are pulling people over based on the color of their skin. ICE has used children, as young as a 5-year-old, as bait to arrest their parents. Americans’ constitutional rights are being trampled. There is no accountability—for ICE or for Secretary Noem.
“ICE needs to be reformed and reined in. Congress must conduct oversight of the $75 billion in funding Republicans already gave ICE in their so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’ Secretary Noem has spent this money recklessly and unwisely—yet she wants even more money to inflict anxiety and pain on American communities. I will not vote to give DHS any more federal funds until Secretary Noem and ICE are held accountable.”
A vote on the funding package in the Senate is expected next week. Senator Welch also voted against Republicans’ so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’, which provided ICE with more than $75 billion in additional funding. He cosponsored the Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement (VISIBLE) Act, which would require immigration enforcement officers to display clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions.
Senator Welch called for Secretary Noem to resign in July.
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