Joe Biden Urged to Abolish ICE as Agency Reportedly Runs Out of Money

Activists are renewing calls for President Joe Biden to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after it was reported that millions of dollars will need to be pulled from other programs to make up for the agency's budgetary deficit. The agency is set to spend more taxpayer funds than ever due to an estimated $345 million shortfall for the 2022 fiscal year, Axios reported last week. Sources told the outlet that ICE will run out of money before October unless the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is able to pull funds for other programs to make up for the shortfall. The Defund Hate Campaign, made up of 63 organizations representing directly impacted communities and civil rights and immigrant rights advocates, is among those calling for Biden to terminate the agency. "Every year, ICE wastes billions of taxpayer dollars by surveilling immigrant communities, deporting people seeking safety, and incarcerating immigrants in deadly detention centers," Gabriela Viera, advocacy manager at Detention Watch Network, said in a statement to Newsweek. In this combination image, Inset of demonstrators march through downtown calling for the abolition of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on August 16, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois and US President Joe Biden attends the Jeddah Security and Development Summit (GCC+3) at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. GETTY "It is unacceptable for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to transfer or reprogram any amount of funding for the abusive operations of this agency with an already bloated budget of $8.1 billion," she continued. "As witnesses to the daily violence that ICE inflicts on our communities, we demand President Biden and members of Congress condemn this money grab." Viera noted that four women had recently filed a complaint accusing a male nurse of sexually assaulting them at an ICE detention center in Georgia that was described by The Intercept as the "deadliest immigration jail" in the country. "No amount of funding ever has or ever will fix ICE because this abuse is endemic to the agency," Viera added. "It has repeatedly shown to callously disregard people's dignity, health, and safety, in addition to Congressional spending authority. The agency must be defunded." NEWSWEEK SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS > READ MORE Abbott Border Order Sparks Fears of 'Invasion' Rhetoric, Racial Profiling ICE to Guarantee Abortions for Detained Migrants Despite State Bans: Report Detention Center Conditions Often 'Challenging' for LGBTQI+ Migrants: Study Juliana Nascimento, deputy director of federal advocacy at United We Dream, said in a statement to Newsweek: "ICE is a deadly agency that has wreaked havoc and caused pain on immigrant communities. ICE gets billions in funding all while there are continued reports of widespread abuse of people in their custody." ICE has a "history of misusing funds," Nascimento added. A report from the DHS Office of Inspector General revealed earlier this year that ICE wasted about $17 million on hotel rooms to house migrants that went largely unused between April and June last year. "Instead of giving them more money, Congress should focus on funding our lives, including providing funding for community-based programs that live up to our values of welcoming people who are immigrants," Nascimento said. A DHS spokesperson told Newsweek: "Departments and agencies across the government utilize end of year reprogramming actions to better align resources and fund priority needs. As it does every year, DHS is reprogramming funds within and between its components." For more information, contact us at: http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/index.html