On 27 January 2026, 1,025 (!!) organisations in the USA sent the following letter:
Dear Members of Congress,
We the undersigned 1,025 organizations write to express our horror, outrage and deep grief about the news that federal agents have executed a human being in broad daylight on the streets of Minneapolis. How many more people have to die, how many more lies have to be told, and how many more children must be used as bait and abducted, before Congress fulfills its responsibilities and stops these out-of-control agencies from continuing to violently attack our immigrant communities and communities of color, as well as their many allies and supporters?
We demand an immediate halt in all funding for these deadly operations until the violence, abuses, and deaths in American communities and in immigration detention centers stop. Congress must refuse to provide one dollar to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol through the appropriations process and immediately take action to revoke the tens of billions already given through last summer’s reconciliation bill.
We demand that you act decisively and show DHS and the communities you serve that this cruelty and lawlessness is unacceptable and must end now. When federal agents are patrolling the streets of American cities and gunning people down in broad daylight, the bare minimum response is to stop the funding that enables these violent agencies to carry out these atrocities. You have the power and responsibility to stop this. What you do now will be remembered for future generations – take a stand today while you still have the power to do so
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 