WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper released the following statement after voting NO on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill:
“The American people have seen with their own eyes that ICE is out of control. The agency needs a top-to-bottom overhaul.
“We proposed commonsense reforms — like body cameras, judicial warrants, and strict restraints on the use of force — things that are standard for local law enforcement agencies. Yet President Trump and the Republicans have chosen to shut down the government rather than work with us.
“We’ll use every tool at our disposal until ICE is overhauled to keep our communities safe.”
Hickenlooper has consistently pushed for more oversight and transparency for federal immigration enforcement efforts, and has worked to help families desperately searching for loved ones arrested by ICE. Last month, Hickenlooper spoke on the Senate floor to denounce the horrifying killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, condemn the reports that families in Eagle County found “death cards” left in the cars of family members taken by ICE agents, and to demand the overhaul of ICE. He’s shown up at ICE facilities to conduct congressional oversight visits and raise concerns about ICE disregarding due process. He helped launch an investigation into ICE’s unlawful obstruction of congressional oversight and introduced bills to ban ICE from wearing masks, prevent immigration enforcement from targeting schools, hospitals, polling locations, and places of worship, and cut back the excessive funding that MAGA Republicans gave them.
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