Today, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement:
“I voted no on this partisan bill to fund ICE, and I will continue to oppose funding ICE until the agency is required to follow the same rules as every other local, state and federal law enforcement agency.
“Once again, Republicans ignored bipartisan calls for reform and instead advanced a bill that gives ICE and CBP 70 billion taxpayer dollars without any guardrails.
“I proposed amendments to instead spend these dollars helping families recover from natural disasters, growing the local economy, supporting veterans and their families, helping local law enforcement fight drug trafficking and educating students with disabilities. Republicans blocked every one of these amendments.”
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to provide $70 billion in funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), both agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The bill passed the House by a vote of 214-212.
Rep. Larsen proposed the following amendments to the legislation, all of which Republicans blocked from consideration in the final bill:
- Transfer $5 billion to FEMA to increase the maximum Individual Assistance payouts from $45,000 to $100,000. Rep. Larsen leads legislation to reform FEMA disaster relief and fought to secure Individual Assistance funding for people in Northwest Washington following last December’s devastating floods.
- Revoke the President’s waiver of the Jones Act. Last month, Rep. Larsen and Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) sent a letter to President Trump urging him to reconsider his waiver of the Jones Act.
- Process tariff refunds. The amendment would strike ICE funding and provide the funds instead to CBP to process International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariff refunds. On February 20, the Supreme Court struck down tariffs that President Trump imposed under the IEEPA, and following the ruling, Larsen urged local businesses to seek tariff refunds.
- Help veteran families at risk of homelessness. The amendment would transfer $2.4 billion to VA’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program to help low-income veteran families find and retain stable housing.
- Double funding for State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance. The amendment would transfer an additional $1 billion in annual funding to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program, doubling the previous allocation of $964 million, to support local law enforcement, including fentanyl interdiction efforts and multi-jurisdictional drug task forces (MJTFs).
- Support students with disabilities. The amendment would strike ICE funding and ensure the federal government finally fulfills its commitments to students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Larsen Demands ICE Accountability, Fights to Fund FEMA, U.S. Coast Guard, TSA
Rep. Larsen is the top Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard within DHS. On April 30, Rep. Larsen voted for legislation to fund all agencies within DHS besides ICE and CBP, which the President later signed into law.
Rep. Larsen supports strengthening accountability and oversight of ICE operations and DHS detention facilities, including:
- Prohibiting ICE officers from wearing masks during arrests;
- Requiring ICE officers to be trained in de-escalation;
- Prohibiting masked ICE officers from using restricted equipment, such as tear gas;
- Ending family and child detention;
- Ending DHS’s use of private detention facilities;
- Providing individuals in immigration detention with unlimited communication with legal counsel;
- Repealing the Alien Enemies Act, which President Trump has used to deport immigrants from Venezuela with no due process by accusing them of “invading” the United States; and
- A complete and independent investigation into the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
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