Washington, DC — Amid an escalating wave of militarized immigration enforcement, the Gender Equity Coalition (GEC), joined by 80 organizations and movement allies, delivered a letter today demanding that Congress use its constitutional oversight and funding authority to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

The GEC convenes more than 120 leading national organizations at the forefront of gender policy. Collectively, GEC organizations reach millions of members and advocates across the United States.

“Immigration enforcement is not gender-neutral,” the organizations state in this letter. “It targets caregivers, endangers pregnant and postpartum people, and traps survivors of violence by making safety pathways feel dangerous. This is an inherently anti-family campaign that must be stopped.”

The letter makes a powerful case that masked federal agents are intentionally killing, kidnapping and terrorizing communities and disproportionately harming women, children, and caregivers. By targeting schools, child care centers, and health clinics, ICE and CBP agents have created a climate of fear that prevents women and families from accessing essential services and silences immigrant and LGBTQ+ survivors. 

The Gender Equity Coalition is calling on Congress to exercise its constitutional oversight and funding authority to:

• Ensure an end to ICE/CBP surge deployments nationwide.

• Halt ICE and CBP funding until enforceable restrictions conditioned on compliance with civil rights, medical standards, and due process are in place.

• Mandate policy changes to restore "sensitive location" protections and end tactics that target pregnant and postpartum people, children and caregivers.

• Claw back over $170 billion in Department of Homeland Security funds to reverse cuts made to healthcare, SNAP, child care, and public education.

Read the letter and the full list of signers here.

“Our nation needs an immigration system that balances compassion and security, not one that terrorizes women and children, raids child care centers, kidnaps children from schools, and detains pregnant or postpartum people,” the organizations write. “The lives of women, children, and families are on the line.”