WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) introduced the ICE Funding Accountability Act and thePrivate Detention Accountability Act to work to ensure accountability and transparency of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Coupled with his End Warehouse Detention Act, introduced earlier today, Senator Kim’s three bills work together to stop taxpayer dollars from funding Donald Trump’s out-of-control DHS and end the inhumane practices occurring in private detentions.
“I’ve been inside a Donald Trump and Kristi Noem approved private detention facility at Delaney Hall – these facilities do not belong in New Jersey or any corner of our country,” said Senator Kim. “Americans are sick of this administration’s cruelty and lawlessness, and don’t want another dime of their hard-earned money funding it. Congress needs to step up, assert its authority, and use these bills to reign in this out-of-control administration.”
Specifically, the bills would:
- ICE Funding Accountability Act– Prohibit DHS from using taxpayer dollars taken through President Trump’s “Big Disastrous Reconciliation Bill” to hire or recruit more ICE and CBP agents.
- Private Detention Accountability Act– Require the ICE Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) to conduct audits of new and existing ICE detention facilities, prohibit those facilities from accepting new detainees until any audit deficiencies are remedied, and increase congressional oversight by requiring ICE to submit reports to Congress on how they are addressing any deficiencies discovered through audits.
- End Warehouse Detention Act(introduced with Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) earlier today) – Prohibit the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from using taxpayer dollars, taken through Trump’s “Big Disastrous Reconciliation Bill,” to purchase warehouses or to use warehouses to detain non-citizens.
The legislation builds on Senator Kim’s work to conduct oversight of immigration detention facilities, end warehouse detention, and turn Americans’ justified and growing anger at Trump’s lawlessness into tangible action. He has previously conducted oversight visits at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey and at Elizabeth Detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and called for the closure of all private detention facilities. Last week, Senator Kim was in Roxbury, at the warehouseDHS purchased to open what would be one of the largest detention facilities in the country. He condemned DHS for not coordinating with local officials or listening to the outrage of local community members who do not want the facility in their backyard. The Senator has also met directly with Roxbury Township leaders to discuss the facility and previously sent a letter to the Trump administration alongside members of the New Jersey Democratic Congressional Delegationopposing the use of warehouses for immigration detention.
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