MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District of Illinois)

 

WASHINGTON – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) today voted against the current version of the National Defense Authorization Act, citing its failure to include safeguards against the President’s unchecked use of military force at home.

“I am opposing this NDAA because it fails to rein in the President’s abuses of executive power, including the domestic use of our military. My amendment to require a governor’s request before any president can unilaterally deploy active-duty troops or federalize the National Guard would have been a critical safeguard, but Republicans wouldn’t even put it up for a vote. At a time when this President is actively threatening to militarize my home state, the exclusion of this necessary protection is nonnegotiable.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District of Illinois)

WASHINGTON – Today at the House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing titled “Better Meals, Fewer Pills: Making Our Children Healthy Again,” Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) condemned the Trump administration’s policies for worsening children’s health through cuts to critical programs, attacks on vaccines, and economic policies driving up food costs. In his opening statement, Krishnamoorthi emphasized the stakes:

“Every day I come to work, I think about what I can do in Congress to ensure that children in this country will have a better future than the generations before them. HHS and USDA have unfortunately contributed to a worsening health crisis by slashing critical programs like SNAP and Medicaid, and by undermining public trust in vaccines and medical research that are proven to help keep children healthy.”

He noted that President Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will cut off SNAP benefits for hundreds of thousands of families and slash Medicaid coverage for 15 million Americans—closures that could shutter at least 11 hospitals in Illinois alone. “As a child, my family relied on food stamps when my father lost his job,” Krishnamoorthi added. “It is cruel to rip away this safety net from families just to hand tax breaks to the wealthiest.”

Krishnamoorthi also blasted HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his anti-vaccine rhetoric:

“RFK has made outrageous claims, literally saying that vaccinating our children is ‘a holocaust.’ These lies are driving states like Florida to roll back school vaccination mandates. Even President Trump admits that vaccines ‘work’ and ‘are not controversial at all.’ RFK should listen to his own president.”

Pressing Witnesses on SNAP Cuts, Suicide Prevention, and RFK’s Ties to Epstein

During his questioning, Krishnamoorthi pressed Dr. Dorothy Fink, Acting Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS, on three key issues:

• RFK and Epstein: Krishnamoorthi highlighted flight logs showing Secretary Kennedy flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane and socialized with sex traffickers, serial rapists, and other convicted criminals. He announced his intent to seek sworn testimony from Kennedy about his relationships with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

• LGBTQ Youth Suicide Hotline: He cited CDC data showing LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide and noted that calls to a specialized youth hotline doubled to 70,000 in June 2025. Yet HHS eliminated the program. “At a time when LGBTQ youth and children are reaching out for help like never before, this administration is shutting the door,” he said.

• Rising Food Costs and SNAP Cuts: Krishnamoorthi cited reports showing Trump’s tariffs drove wholesale vegetable prices up 40% in one month. He challenged USDA and HHS witnesses for defending SNAP cuts even as families struggle to afford basic healthy foods. “This is not junk food. These are peppers and broccoli whose prices are skyrocketing, and your administration is cutting the supports families need to buy them.”

Krishnamoorthi: “Children Deserve Better”

Krishnamoorthi concluded that the administration’s actions are actively harming children’s health:

“Any child can see the plain truth: this administration’s policies are harming our health and jeopardizing our future. If we truly care about making America’s children healthy again, the first step is holding HHS and USDA accountable for the roles they are playing in worsening our children’s health today.”

Congressman Krishnamoorthi’s opening statement is available here and his question line is available here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District of Illinois)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) issued the following statement today after the State Department responded to his bipartisan May 7 letter urging the expansion of domestic visa renewals following the successful 2024 H-1B pilot program. The Department’s reply this month stated it does not intend to continue or expand the initiative and will instead require most applicants to appear in person abroad.

“The H-1B renewal pilot program was a commonsense initiative that made government more efficient, reduced backlogs for workers and businesses, and strengthened our legal immigration system — boosting our economy and creating good-paying American jobs,” Congressman Krishnamoorthi said. “Rather than expand this successful program as we urged in our bipartisan letter, the Trump administration has chosen to shut it down. Modernizing our immigration system with practical, bipartisan reforms is long overdue, and I will keep fighting for policies that grow our economy, honor the contributions of immigrant communities, and bring our system into the 21st century. As President Trump turns his back on South Asia and the South Asian diaspora in America, I will continue to stand with them.”

In May, Congressman Krishnamoorthi joined Representatives Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) and Rich McCormick (R-GA) in leading a bipartisan coalition urging Secretary Rubio to build on the 2024 domestic renewal pilot and expand it to additional visa categories. The lawmakers stressed that allowing renewals within the United States would alleviate bottlenecks overseas, reduce unnecessary burdens on workers and employers, and help ensure America remains a magnet for top global talent.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02)

WASHINGTON — The House Natural Resources Committee (HNRC) today held an initial hearing on the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act, bipartisan legislation spearheaded by Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) and HNRC Chairman Bruce Westerman (AR-04) that would reduce red tape and put the United States back in the business of building. 

The SPEED Act would modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to streamline the permitting process and return the law to its intended purpose as a procedural statute for assessing the environmental impact of federal actions.

“Our country needs modern infrastructure to keep our people and our economy moving. We need robust power production and transmission to achieve energy dominance and lower costs. We need housing for families. But NEPA has been warped over time to become a law that allows endless lawsuits and bureaucracy that make it harder to build the things we need at the pace we need them,” Golden said. “By reforming NEPA while standing firm in our commitments through the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, we can be good stewards of our environment while ending a permitting status quo that is onerous, overly complex and ripe for litigation abuse.”

During the hearing, Golden spoke about the ways the bill would retain the ability of any interested party to weigh in on proposed projects, and about the delays NEPA has allowed for the development of all types of energy production — including clean energy. 

“The problems with the NEPA process are energy-neutral,” Golden said. “They can be detrimental to both fossil fuel and renewable energy projects. … These problems with NEPA can cut both ways and so too should the solutions. This is a pro-energy bill that takes an all-of-the-above, technology-neutral approach.” 

In response to questions from Golden, Jeremy Harrell, CEO of ClearPath — a nonprofit working to reduce global energy emissions — said America’s broken permitting system is “the single largest barrier to deploying new clean energy in this country.” Harrell pointed to the fact that solar energy projects face the highest rate of NEPA litigation of any energy source in the country.

WHAT’S IN THE BILL:

The SPEED Act will modernize NEPA to help streamline the permitting process and return the law to its intended purpose. It will: 

• ensure environmental reviews focus on direct, significant impacts rather than hypothetical or tenuously connected effects;
• create reasonable timelines for agency decisionmaking while protecting public comment and thorough environmental review;
• streamline judicial review to create more certainty for those working to build and to reduce opportunities for frivolous litigation; and
• improve efficiency and ease burden on agencies, including by clarifying when NEPA is triggered by refining the definition of “Major Federal Action” — a category that has grown so broad that nearly any federal action or funding can trigger a lengthy, complex review.

An independent review of the legislation from the Bipartisan Policy Center can be found here. 

BACKGROUND:

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a procedural statute that established parameters for assessing the environmental impacts of all major federal actions and created the Council on Environmental Quality. The procedural requirements in NEPA apply to all major federal actions, including but not limited to the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, highways, ports, irrigation systems, forest management, transmission lines, energy projects, broadband and water infrastructure.

While well-intentioned, NEPA has evolved into a cumbersome and lengthy process that has increased costs and permitting timelines. Additionally, NEPA has become a tool used by special interest groups to block critical infrastructure across the country, as it is currently the most litigated environmental statute.

This litigation is most often initiated not by communities or individuals, but by national NGOs. According to the Breakthrough Institute, NGOs filed more than 70 percent of all lawsuits filed under NEPA in recent years. According to the report, litigants lose their challenges 80 percent of the time. But what they lost in court, they made up for in delays; Litigation under NEPA added an average of four years to a project’s timeline. These kinds of delays can kill a project even when the litigation against it fails.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Reprepsentative Kathy Castor (FL14)

Almost one year after the most devastating hurricane season of our lifetimes, local elected officials, nonprofits, environmental and emergency management experts and neighborhood representatives across the Tampa Bay expressed their concerns with the chaos at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other agencies to U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor (FL-14), Tim Kennedy (NY-26) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25).

Rep. Tim Kennedy serves as the Ranking Member of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and focuses on emergency preparedness, response, mitigation, resilience, and recovery.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz serves as the Ranking Member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, which oversees the budget for Military Construction and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton battered the Tampa Bay area in 2024, breaking records and severely impacting the lives and businesses of my neighbors. Recovering from Hurricanes is not easy, or immediate, but the actions of President Trump are exacerbating the pain the Tampa Bay area is feeling one year later,” said Congresswoman Kathy Castor. “As storms continue to gain strength each year due to the overheating ocean waters, the federal government must invest in FEMA and retain expert staff who understand the science behind these storms so we can predict and mitigate life-threatening impacts from flooding. I am grateful for my colleagues who visited with my neighbors from Shore Acres, Riviera Bay and Progress Village to hear their first-hand stories as homeowners. I know this valuable insight will guide their policy work in Congress to ensure not just Florida, but our entire country, is equipped with the necessary tools to protect themselves against extreme weather events – not partisan messaging from President Trump for clickbait and benefits to his billionaire friends.”

“The message we received from the leaders and community members on the ground in Tampa was emphatic that FEMA can and should be improved, but absolutely not eliminated or undermined,” said Congressman Tim Kennedy. “Every region experiences its own form of extreme weather, from blizzards to hurricanes, but we are united as a country in supporting our fellow Americans when disaster strikes. As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Emergency Management & Technology, I’m grateful to Reps. Castor and Wasserman Schultz, as well as local partners in Tampa Bay, for taking the time to meet with me to underscore the need for an all-of-government response to disasters.”

“We know FEMA needs reforms, like speedier delivery of resources and local coordination. But we also know FEMA shouldn’t be gutted or wrapped in paralyzing red tape,” said Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, “On Monday, we got feedback directly from the Tampa community and its emergency management agencies to be sure we can rise to the challenge to provide relief, resiliency, and recovery for all Floridians when the next storm comes. With our climate and waters warming, it’s no longer if, but when Florida will next need help.” 

Photos from the event can be found here.

Livestream from the press conference can be found here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Thomas Massie (4th District of Kentucky)

For Immediate Release
Contact: massie.press@mail.house.gov
Contact #: 202-225-3465

Washington, D.C.- Today Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced HR 5302, the “No Funds for Foreign Abortions Act.” Rep. Massie’s legislation prohibits U.S. financial aid from going to any foreign government, nongovernmental organization, international organization, or multilateral entity that funds, promotes, or facilitates abortions.

“The message of the ‘No Funds for Foreign Abortions Act’ is clear: foreign countries that spend money to kill unborn children will not receive aid from the United States of America,” said Rep. Thomas Massie. “All American foreign aid programs should be ended, and that money should remain in the United States. Stopping the flow of Americans’ tax dollars to foreign countries that fund abortions is a good first step to achieving this goal.”

The “No Funds for Foreign Abortions Act” will apply globally to any and all foreign countries and entities that promote or perform abortions. HR 5302 codifies and strengthens the pro-life Mexico City policy first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. The Mexico City policy bars federal funding from going to international non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortions. Unfortunately, because the Mexico City policy has not been enshrined into law, its enforcement has varied or lapsed during subsequent presidential administrations. 

Original cosponsors of the “No Funds for Foreign Abortions Act” include Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

The text of the “No Funds for Foreign Abortions Act” is available at this link.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Co-Chair Emeritus of the Congressional Native American Caucus, along with House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.), U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) have reintroduced the bipartisan, bicameral Indian Programs Advance Appropriations Act (IPAAA) to authorize advance appropriations in order to avoid lapses in funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). These agencies fund critical public services for Tribal Nations, including hospitals, schools, law enforcement, and child welfare programs, among other services.

Advance appropriations provide funding for the current Fiscal Year and one year in advance for critical public services. Moving federal programs that serve Tribal Nations—including BIA, BIE, and IHS—to the advance appropriations process will protect these agencies and Tribal governments from cash flow problems that regularly occur due to delays in the enactment of annual federal spending bills in time for the start of the new fiscal year.

“The federal government has a responsibility to honor our trust and treaty commitments to Indian Country,” said Congresswoman McCollum. “This bill takes the necessary steps to provide stable funding for critical public services for Native American communities. We must ensure that critical funding for Indian Health care, tribal justice services, and social services are not interrupted. The advance appropriations process guarantees these funds even during future shutdowns.”

“It is vital that we work to ensure our country’s funding reflects our trust responsibility to Tribal Nations and New Mexico values,” said Senator Luján, a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. “The IPAAA is commonsense reform that provides Tribal Nations with timely, sufficient, sustainable, and predictable funding. My bipartisan, bicameral legislation responsibly funds critical programs that protect the health, safety, and education of Tribal communities and I look forward to working with my colleagues to get it passed.” 

The Federal government already authorizes advance appropriations for other programs, like the Veterans Affairs (VA), to protect these critical federal commitments from such lapses. In 2011, Congress enacted the Veterans’ Health Budget Reform and Transparency Act, requiring the federal government to provide advance appropriations for the VA. This legislation would ensure obligations to Indian County are treated the same way.

“The federal government has a trust responsibility with tribal nations – and part of that responsibility is to ensure basic services are provided. The Indian Programs Advance Appropriations Act will ensure these services are supplied in advance, making sure Indian Country is not left behind,” said Congressman Cole. “I am proud to co-lead this effort in its critical introduction, and I thank Rep. McCollum, Rep. Lujan, and Senator Mullin for their work on this.”

“Indian Country should not have to suffer the consequences of the federal government’s inaction,” said Mullin. “It is vital that we uphold our trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations by ensuring their economic security through the appropriations process. I’m proud to protect Indian Country, alongside my colleagues, from potential government shutdowns.”

In 2023, Congress provided the IHS with advance funding for the first time through the annual appropriations bills, a historic achievement thanks to the tireless work of Tribal Nations and advocates across the country. However, current law does not require IHS to continue receiving advance appropriations, nor does it consider similar authority for the BIE and BIA. IPAAA would provide the statutory authority to safeguard this financial security for our trust and treaty responsibilities at these agencies going forward.

 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn.) released the following statement today on the 24^th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks: 

 “Those of us who were in Washington, D.C. on the morning of September 11, 2001 woke to a beautiful, sunny day. Just moments after arriving to work in the U.S. Capitol that day, that tranquility was broken when my staff and I saw smoke billowing from the Pentagon. We were quickly searching for answers about what was happening. Across our nation, Americans soon faced the horror unfolding on their television screens from Washington, D.C., New York City, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

“24 years since that fateful day, I join Americans in honoring the nearly 3,000 souls our nation lost, the bravery of the first responders who rushed into action, and the resilience of families and communities that will never be the same. Today, I’m reflecting on our nation’s shared grief as well as the strength in unity that kept our country moving forward amid this shared national tragedy. As the United States, we mourn with those who lost loved ones and honor the brave first responders whose heroic actions saved hundreds of lives. 

“Today, there are forces that seek to divide our nation. Just as our nation united in the aftermath of 9/11, we must unite today in defending our shared commitment to freedom, justice, and democracy. We must never allow our American ideals to be extinguished by any actor, foreign or domestic.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1)

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case (HI-01), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, voted in Committee last night against the proposed $79 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.   

This measure funds (or should fund) the U.S. Department of Commerce, including the International Trade Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology; the U.S. Department of Justice; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); the National Science Foundation (NSF) and more.  

“As with prior appropriations bills this year, there were several aspects of the bill that I requested and were included and that I otherwise supported,” said Case.

“But the sum total of the bill as proposed by my majority colleagues would reduce key support for state and local law enforcement when that support is key, reduce support for our minority-owned businesses which are the majority of businesses in Hawaiʻi, undercut gun and domestic violence prevention, cripple our world-leading scientific research and development, undermine legal assistance for those who cannot afford representation, and otherwise continue an overall effort to reduce if not eliminate the necessary role of federal funding of initiatives that matter to real people in their everyday lives.”  

In Committee, Case also secured a direction to the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to produce its agreements with other federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for use by those other agencies of BOP facilities such as the Federal Detention Center (FDC)-Honolulu. The amendment was prompted by BOP’s refusal to provide to Case its agreement with ICE and details on ICE’s use of FDC-Honolulu and other facilities for ICE detainee needs.

Case remarked that a request by a Member of Congress for such information was a normal part of legislative, funding and oversight duties and any refusal to produce such information was not acceptable. His amendment was adopted, and his remarks in Committee (including support for funding of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), especially given Hawaii’s recent tsunami and hurricane close calls) are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7mFWp4FpWc  

Through his assignment on the Committee, Case also secured the following five Member-designated Community Project Funding (CPF) projects that specifically focused on local needs in Hawai‘i: 

·       $1 million for the Hawai‘i Division of Aquatic Resources to survey and remove invasive coral spread at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.  

·       $1,031,000 for the University of Hawai‘i for its Fireshed Partnerships program, which would facilitate wildfire risk reduction.  

·       $1,031,000 for the Hawai‘i Division of Aquatic Resources to restore fishpond habitat and enhance water quality at Maunalua Fishpond.  

·       $1,031,000 for Hawai‘i Pacific University to develop its Aquaculture Program, improving the workforce pipeline and bolstering the aquaculture industry in Hawaiʻi.  

·       $1 million for the Honolulu Police Department to do acquire a new Emergency Mobile Command Vehicle to replace its current vehicle which is over 20 years old.  

The House’s CPF rules require that each project must have demonstrated community support, must be fully disclosed by the requesting Member and must be subject to audit by the independent Government Accountability Office. Case’s disclosures are here: https://case.house.gov/services/funding-disclosures.htm.

Provisions with Case requested and which were provided in the measure include:

·                $397 million for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants (Byrne-JAG). Byrne-JAG is the leading federal source of criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions.

The funds can be used to support a range of program areas including law enforcement; prosecution and court; prevention and education; corrections and community corrections; drug treatment and enforcement; planning, evaluation and technology improvement; and crime victim and witness initiatives.  

·                $654 million for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The COPS program is designed to provide funding directly to law enforcement agencies to hire and/or rehire additional career law enforcement officers to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.  

·                $52 million for grants to reduce the sexual assault kit backlog.  

·                $51 million for the Anti-Methamphetamine and Anti-Heroin Task Forces.  

·                $250 million for the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, which enhances the research competitiveness of Hawai‘i by strengthening STEM capacity and capability.  

·                $89 million for the Climate Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes program to support the maintenance and needed repairs at the Atmospheric Baseline Observatories, including the Mauna Loa Observatory where the famous Keeling Curve proving rapid climate change was developed.  

·                $84 million for STEM Engagement Programs at NASA. including Space Grant, to inspire young people to pursue future careers in science and engineering.  

·                $7.6 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop wildland-urban interface risk metrics to mitigate wildfire risk to communities.  

·                $33 million for the Coral Reef Conservation Program.  

·                $67 million for Sanctuaries and Marine Protected Areas, which supports Papahānaumokuākea and our Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale sanctuaries.  

·                $68 million for Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles Protection, which safeguards our Hawaiian monk seals, dolphins, false killer whales and green sea turtles.  

·                $56 million for the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), which supports our Hawaii’s Pacific Island (Pac) IOOS. PacIOOS provides easily accessible coastal and ocean observing and forecasting to increase ocean safety and protect public and environmental health.  

·                $33.3 million for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, which includes support for our Heʻeia fishpond.  

·                $80 million for the Sea Grant Program, which supports the Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Program at the University of Hawaiʻi that promotes healthy coastal ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, resilient communities and economies and environmental literacy and workforce development.   

·                $175 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program. This public-private partnership has centers in all 50 states, including Hawaiʻi, dedicated to serving small and medium-sized manufacturers.  

·                $4 million the Minority Business Development Agency specifically for Native American Business Development Program that awards grants to Tribes and American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian populations to address barriers to economic development, and another $5 million for grants to American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian entities qualified to provide business, financing and technical assistance.   

·                $3.5M for the Assistant Secretary of Travel and Tourism position, which Case worked to establish in the Visit America Act to drive a cohesive federal response to the challenges facing the industry.

·                $20 million for the Climate Adaptation Partnership Program, which provides vital research that allows communities to prepare for and respond to long-term shifts in weather patterns, resource availability and coastal conditions.

A summary of the bill is available here.  

This is the last of twelve separate bills developed and approved by the Appropriations Committee that would fund the federal government at some $1.6 trillion for FY 2026 commencing October 1^st of this year. The bill now moves on to the full House of Representatives for its consideration.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Salud Carbajal (CA-24)

U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) joined Representatives Juan Vargas (D-CA-52), Darren Soto (D-FL-09), and over 64 of their colleagues in demanding answers from the Trump Administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the use of racial profiling in immigration enforcement.

Under the Fourth Amendment, federal agents generally may not stop someone unless agents have good reason to suspect they’re breaking laws. But a growing number of people — many of them Latino — have reported being targeted, harassed, and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents solely because of their race.

In July, a federal judge issued an order that stopped ICE from targeting people based on race, language, and work. However, this week the Supreme Court temporarily lifted the order while the case continues. As a result, ICE agents can resume making indiscriminate stops for the time being, underscoring the need for immediate answers and accountability from DHS on the use of racial profiling in immigration enforcement.

“We have been concerned by recent statements and actions undertaken by DHS that seem to indicate that the Department is unlawfully using race as a basis for conducting immigration enforcement operations,” wrote the lawmakers. “A strategy of immigration enforcement that singles out law-abiding people solely because of their race is at odds with our constitution’s commitment to both equality and freedom from unreasonable searches.”

Earlier this year, White House Border Czar Tom Homan stated in an interview that ICE agents “don’t need probable cause” to detain people and can instead rely on “observations… based on their location, their occupation, their physical appearance, their actions.”

“These kinds of indiscriminate, race-based detentions cause real harm,” the lawmakers continued. “In June, DHS conducted a worksite raid at a farm in Ventura County, California, where militarized agents violently detained hundreds of people, allegedly including U.S. citizens and those with work visas. As a result of the raid, Jaime Alanis, a farmworker at the farm, fell from a greenhouse and later died due to his injuries. In Los Angeles, ICE snatched Andrea Velez, a U.S. citizen, off the street, and detained her for two days, giving her nothing to drink for 24 hours. A U.S. citizen in Pico Rivera was assaulted and detained by agents in a Walmart parking lot.”

ICE data shows that between January 20 and July 28, 2025, ICE made more than 16,000 street arrests of immigrants with no criminal convictions, charges or removal orders. Over half of these arrests were made between June and July alone, with Latinos accounting for 90% of the arrests, meaning that nearly one in five arrests made by ICE is a Latino with no criminal history.

Read the full letter HERE and below:

Secretary Noem:

We write in response to recent incidents that have raised questions about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s use of race in immigration enforcement. Recent statements and actions undertaken by Department officials have called into question whether stop and arrest decisions are being made based not on legitimate law enforcement reasons but on unconstitutional racial bias.

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law.  This guarantee generally prevents the government from treating people differently based on their race without a compelling reason that is “narrowly tailored.”  The Fourth Amendment similarly prevents the government from conducting unreasonable searches and seizures, including searches without a warrant or probable cause.  It is well established that these limitations extend to the conduct of immigration law enforcement officers.  Away from the border, immigration agents can only make a stop when they have identified “specific articulable facts, together with rational inferences from those facts, that reasonably warrant suspicion” that the person is violating immigration law.

Given these well-established limitations, we have been concerned by recent statements and actions undertaken by DHS that seem to indicate that the Department is unlawfully using race as a basis for conducting immigration enforcement operations.

In July, Border Czar Tom Homan stated in an interview that “people need to understand ICE officers and Border Patrol don’t need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them . . . based on their physical appearance.”  As you know, to conduct a warrantless arrest, an immigration agent needs to establish probable cause that the person targeted is not only violating an immigration law or regulation, but also that they pose a flight risk.  And even for a brief detention, immigration agents need reasonable suspicion.  Mr. Homan’s statement seems to indicate that it is the policy of this administration that immigration agents can satisfy those requirements based solely on someone’s physical features and what they may mean about their racial identity.  ICE data shows that between January 20 and July 28, 2025, ICE made more than 16,000 street arrests of immigrants with no criminal convictions, charges, or removal orders.  Over half of these arrests were made between June and July alone, with Latinos accounting for 90% of arrests.  This means that nearly one in five arrests made by ICE is a Latino with no criminal history.  

Similar concerns prompted the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to order the Trump Administration to halt its practice of racial profiling in immigration enforcement.  This summer, Judge Frimpong found that the Administration has engaged in a pattern of stops and arrests based on four impermissible factors, including a person’s “apparent race or identity.” The judge made this finding after the Administration was unable to provide details that supported their claim that the stops and arrests —including the arrest of U.S. Citizens— were based on actual “intelligence” or an “investigation” that indicated they were breaking the law.  Without additional information, Judge Frimpong explained that it was improper to base arrests on these factors, including racial identity, because they were “no more indicative of illegal presence in the country than of legal presence.”  On September 8, 2025, the Supreme Court temporarily lifted this order as the case is appealed, allowing immigration enforcement officers to continue to make indiscriminate stops based on racial factors for the time being.  In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that through its use of indiscriminate stops“[t]he Government…has all but declared that all Latinos, U.S. citizens or not, who work low wage jobs are fair game to be seized at any time.” 

These kinds of indiscriminate, race-based detentions cause real harm. In June, DHS conducted a worksite raid at a farm in Ventura County, California, where militarized agents violently detained hundreds of people, allegedly including U.S. citizens and those with work visas.  As a result of the raid, Jaime Alanis, a farmworker at the farm, fell from a greenhouse and later died due to his injuries.  In Los Angeles, ICE snatched Andrea Velez, a U.S. citizen, off the street, and detained her for two days, giving her nothing to drink for 24 hours.  A U.S. citizen in Pico Rivera was assaulted and detained by agents in a Walmart parking lot. 

Two U.S. citizens in Montebello were forcefully interrogated by Border Patrol agents on the street about their citizenship, one was later taken to a detention center.  Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen, was detained by Florida authorities and charged with entering the country as an “unauthorized alien,” and was detained in county jail for more than 24 hours.  In Arizona, Jose Hermosillo, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen, was wrongfully detained for 10 days. 

Such a pattern of apparent discrimination is even more concerning given that the Department gutted the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), which would normally investigate complaints regarding the violations of civil rights.  According to whistleblowers, when the Department initially moved to shutter the office, it halted over 500 civil rights investigations.  Without a robust CRCL, it will be difficult for those whose rights have been violated by ICE to obtain relief through any avenue other than the court system.

A strategy of immigration enforcement that singles out law-abiding people solely because of their race is at odds with our constitution’s commitment to both equality and freedom from unreasonable searches. Accordingly, we ask for the following information by September 30th, 2025: 

1. Does the Department have a policy on how immigration officers can use race in making determinations about when to stop or arrest someone? If so, what is the policy?
2. Does the Department agree with Border Czar Homan’s statement that “ICE officers and Border Patrol don’t need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them . . . based on their physical appearance”? 
3. Mr. Sean Skedzielewski, an attorney for the government, has been quoted as saying that the “Department of Homeland Security has policy and training to ensure compliance with the Fourth Amendment.”  Please provide copies of all related training materials and any training materials that address racial profiling, discrimination or bias.
4. What steps has the Department taken to ensure that agents are upholding protections against racial profiling provided by the U.S. Constitution, including the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause?
5. Since January 20, 2025, how many complaints have been filed with the Department alleging that an arrest or stop was based on race?
6. During that same time frame, what actions has the Department taken to respond to complaints that an immigration enforcement action was unlawfully motivated by race?
7. How has the Department’s gutting of the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties affected its ability to respond to such complaints?
8. What is the Department’s policy regarding how it responds to an allegation that a stop or arrest was unlawfully undertaken based on race?
9. When the agency determines that a stop or arrest was improperly motivated by race, what steps does the Department take in response? How does the Department ensure that there is accountability?  

We look forward to receiving your prompt response.