ICE Atrocities Highlight Threats to Democracy 

In recent years, defense of our democracy has become one of our core concerns at NCLCV and our state affiliates across the nation. In blunt terms, our ability to impact environmental policy through our votes requires a functioning democracy where our votes are counted in fair elections. That has meant fighting for citizens’ rights to register and vote in fairly administered elections and competitive non-gerrymandered districts.

Over the course of the past year we have seen the swift rise of an extraordinary new threat to our democracy: the mounting use of federal agency powers to suppress dissent and punish perceived political enemies of the current occupant of the White House. There is no more glaring example of that abuse of federal powers than the violence and attempted intimidation taking place today on the streets of Minneapolis.

ICE Steals FEMA funding

Within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), massive new infusions of funding and personnel have swollen the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency into a tool of violent, unrestrained abuse directed at citizens and migrants — and deployed to politically targeted jurisdictions like Minnesota. 

To fund this violent program, the leaders of DHS have been illegally draining Congress-approved funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA oversees and addresses storm disaster preparedness and response, and has overwhelmingly failed at delivering relief to Hurricane Helene victims and counties.

While climate disasters grow in numbers – from historic flooding to unprecedented wildfires – DHS has diverted resources from dealing with these disasters to pay for the Trump Administration’s mass deportation agenda.

Campaign of Terror

In a statement issued last week by the national League of Conservation Voters(LCV), “Our ability to make progress on clean energy and climate change depends on a strong democracy that upholds the rule of law, protects our first amendment rights, and ensures free and fair elections. LCV has always condemned violence and we condemn the Trump administration and various agencies within the Department of Homeland Security’s escalation of a national campaign of terror against immigrant communities and Americans nationwide, only most recently in Minnesota, that has resulted in the tragic loss of lives and inflicted lasting trauma on families, workers, and entire communities. We see these actions as part of a coordinated and growing threat that seeks to undermine the rule of law and our democracy. We stand with efforts to stop these abuses, including Congressional Democrats using their leverage over the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] funding and to hold officials, including Secretary Kristi Noem, accountable for their reckless and unlawful actions.”  

Take Action! Call Congress

Let’s melt ICE and fund FEMA instead! Call your lawmakers at 202-224-3121 and demand they fund FEMA, not ICE.