This statement can be attributed to Wendy Chun-Hoon, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) 

January 26, 2026, Washington, D.C. – Over the weekend, immigration enforcement agents killed another U.S. citizen, 37-year-old Alex Pretti. This is just weeks after the murder of Renee Good, and dozens of other violent actions that have harmed immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. The Senate will consider a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget this week that increases funding for immigration enforcement and will lead to more children and families being needlessly victimized. Members of Congress must reject any legislation that further empowers the administration to continue its attacks against families across the country. 

Trump Administration officials have made clear since day one of their second term that they intended to go after children, families, and workers. Children are bearing the brunt of this hateful agenda. In just the first few weeks of this year, a five-year-old was used as bait after immigration enforcement agents followed him and his father home from school and arrested his father near their home; several children, including a six-month-old, were hospitalized after their car was tear-gassed on their way home; a 17-year-old was violently assaulted at work, abducted, and then thrown out in a parking lot miles away; and a seven-year-old and her parents were abducted in front of a hospital where they went to seek emergency care for her.  

CLASP, along with other children’s advocates from the Children Thrive Action Network, have called on Congress to reject any increased funding for immigration enforcement that kidnaps entire families and traumatizes children. The devastating harms already inflicted on children and families across the country aren’t reversible, but additional harms are absolutely preventable. It is up to Congress to stand with communities and stop this administration’s crusade of violence. 

Let us be clear. There is no acceptable amount of funding in this legislation for body cameras or oversight language that justifies increased or level funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). The historic funding increases for these agencies included in H.R.1 have allowed the administration to rapidly onboard agents and turbocharge deportation efforts. The video recordings of these agents violently attacking and killing people and breaking the law make it abundantly clear that body cameras are doing little to deter agents from using violence, nor are they leading to meaningful consequences or changes to unlawful protocols. We have enacted laws, policies, and guidance that are supposed to prevent these abuses; yet the Trump Administration is actively disregarding them. Therefore, the Senate must not pass a budget that increases funding for ICE and CBP. Doing so would empower this administration to continue to terrorize our communities. 

As an organization that’s been working for more than 50 years to advance policies that allow all children and families to thrive, we call on Congress and state and local officials to hold this administration accountable and protect our communities from further harm.