The following is based on an action alert circulated by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.
[Immigrants] are human beings, and we must treat human beings humanely, not treat them worse than animals, as often happens. It is a very big challenge: a country can say it cannot receive more than a certain number of people, but when people arrive, they are human beings and deserve the respect that belongs to every human being because of their dignity.
Pope Leo XIV, in-flight press conference, April 23, 2026
Last Thursday, April 23, the US Senate passed a budget outline that includes plans to further increase immigration enforcement by $70 billion, over and above the $170 billion from last summer’s reconciliation bill, which bolstered the capacity of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol to carry out the Administration’s cruel and deadly mass detention and deportation agenda. A number of steps are still required between the Senate’s vote and DHS receiving these funds. The budget is simply an outline of instructions for the administration to spend money in certain ways, money that wouldn’t be available until the appropriations process later in the year.
We still have a chance to stop this destructive framework in the House of Representatives, although some representatives are proposing to further expand DHS’s increase to $140 billion, which would enable an explosive expansion of activity from these agencies for 3–5 years without needing to justify their expenses for each subsequent year’s budget. This would effectively make ICE and CBP immune to congressional oversight at least until the next presidential election.
Please use the draft email here on the Sisters of Mercy website to urge your representative to vote NO on this budget resolution. Instead of planning tens of billions more dollars to attack our neighbors, the House should refuse to fund ICE and CBP, agencies that already have more than enough from last year’s bill, and instead focus on ensuring important safeguards like:
- Codifying guidance for safety at places of worship, schools, and hospitals (as provided by the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, S. 455 and HR 1061).
- Ending family detention and immigration detention expansion.
- Ending warrantless arrests by masked agents and halting enforcement actions based on profiling (sometimes called “Kavanaugh Stops”).
If you prefer, write or call your representative directly — use this link to find contact information for his/her office in Washington DC.
Pax Christi USA signed on to this letter to the House of Representatives urging them to vote NO on the budget resolution.
For more information:
The Coalition on Human Needs hosted and recorded a community call, “DHS Funding, ICE & Border Patrol Enforcement, and Human Needs”, which is rich in information to understand more deeply what’s at stake and the concerns of the immigration advocacy community in the current context.