Congress is actively negotiating a new Department of Homeland Security funding bill, with just two weeks to finalize it.
Funding decisions are where real limits get set. What Congress includes or leaves out of this bill will determine whether ICE and Border Patrol continue operating without transparency or whether accountability finally has teeth.
That is why continued pressure matters during this narrow window.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has laid out a clear and enforceable set of reforms that must be included in the DHS funding bill. These demands reflect the accountability standards people have been calling for and that Congress has the authority to require right now.
We are urging Congress to include these reforms without watering them down.
Add your name to the petition demanding DHS accountability. >>
These are the standards Congress must meet:
- Require body cameras for all ICE and Border Patrol agents
- Prohibit masks or other identity-concealing gear during enforcement actions
- Require judicial warrants before agents enter homes or remove people from their vehicles
- Require independent investigations when DHS agents break the law, conducted by state or local authorities rather than the Department of Justice
- Explicitly prohibit the detention or deportation of American citizens
- Establish transparent guidelines for use of force by ICE, Border Patrol agents, or other immigration enforcement officers
- End enforcement actions at sensitive locations, including schools, child-care centers, hospitals, places of worship, and other family-centered community spaces
Funding without these reforms is an endorsement of secrecy, abuse, and the idea that federal agents do not have to answer to the law. Congress cannot claim ignorance or distance from the consequences of that choice.
Signing this petition makes it unmistakably clear that anything short of real accountability is unacceptable and that this bill will be judged by what it allows to continue.
This is one of the few moments when public pressure can still change what is written into law. What happens next will be a choice, and the consequences will belong to Congress.
