Letters to the Editor: Midterm voters will play a key role in keeping ICE accountable

To the editor: Columnist Anita Chabria is right to analyze how California legislators are leveraging the power of laws and legislation to hold immigration authorities accountable (“ICE can’t be trusted. Can California force accountability?,” Jan. 14). But there is an additional way for accountability. It is through the power of our votes.

This November, every member of the U.S. House of Representatives, alongside one-third of the U.S. Senate, will be up for election. Congress controls the appropriations process for the federal government and possesses the ability to claw back or deny further funding for agencies harming the American public, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Congress had already approved the president’s signature budget reconciliation bill, signed into law last summer, which gave an unprecedented $170 billion to immigration enforcement agencies to further inflict harm on communities.

ICE won’t be reformed unless we have congressional leaders who are willing to use their authority over federal funding to hold it accountable for the violence and terror it has wrought in communities across the country. Voters must send that message this November.

Christian Arana, Los Angeles
This writer is vice president of civic power and policy at Latino advocacy organization Latino Community Foundation.