NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Democratic Party is calling on Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty to reject any funding package that increases Immigration and Customs Enforcement spending, as the Senate prepares to take up a House-passed appropriations bill this week that expands funding for ICE and CBP. 

“Our communities deserve to be safe. These untrained, masked ICE agents are creating chaos on purpose. These are not isolated incidents, it is a dangerous pattern. ICE must get out of our communities and Congress must stop giving them our money.

That’s why we are urging Senators Blackburn and Hagerty to oppose any appropriations bill that increases funding to terrorize our neighbors and to instead focus on policies that lower costs and improve quality of life for families across the state and country regardless of who they are or where they come from. If Republicans are unwilling to join Democrats, they will again be responsible for another government shutdown,” said Rachel Campbell, Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party.

The House-passed bill moves forward after months of escalating enforcement tactics that have torn families apart and spread fear across communities, while offering no meaningful relief to working families struggling to get by.

“Rather than spending money to improve the lives of Tennesseans and Americans across the country, Republicans from the White House to our Statehouse, are choosing to fund this masked secret police under the guise of a manufactured public safety crisis. Public safety cannot exist where fear and violence are normalized.

At a time when Tennesseans are facing an affordability crisis, pouring more money into an already bloated ICE budget is a slap in the face to working families across our state and beyond. Healthcare costs are rising. Housing is out of reach. Childcare is unaffordable. Grocery bills keep climbing. Families need relief, not more cruelty. Democrats will keep fighting like hell to protect the dignity and safety of our neighbors,” said Luis Mata, Communications & Deputy Executive Director of the Tennessee Democratic Party.