“Alex Jeffrey Pretti. Renee Nicole Good. Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old boy in the bunny hat. And countless others in Minnesota, Chicago, Los Angeles, Charlotte, New Orleans, Portland Oregon and Portland Maine, and dozens of other U.S. cities have had their lives upended – or ended – and their families torn apart by the immigration agents the Trump administration has unleashed on our communities, too many of whom are untrained and lawless. It has to end.

“No child, mother, or family should have to grieve this kind of trauma and loss. No person should lose their life in this way. Our country must do better.  

“As we grieve Alex Pretti and Renee Good, moms are demanding our U.S. Senators refuse to expand funding, and put in place strong accountability measures for the federal agencies that are using brutal tactics that violate our rights while traumatizing children and families and taking innocent lives. We are also deeply disturbed by the cascade of lies the President and high-level federal officials unleash to smear the victims each time ICE and CBP commit an atrocity. There must be accountability measures and real change.

“President Trump and Republicans in Congress cut health care for families in order to fund human rights abuses, to terrify children and hardworking immigrants, and to create chaos. This is undermining our health care system, our child care, our schools, and our economy. It doesn’t have to be this way.  We demand an immigration process that balances security and compassion — NOT cuts to health care, and certainly not state-sponsored violence and cruelty.”