Testimony on Detainee Treatment and ICE

There are currently 539 individuals,

84 families.

That's how, when we were getting our orientation

and asking our questions of the officers,

that's how they characterized the detainees, low-level, non-criminals.

So it seems their only crime is that they exist.

These are law-abiding people that are our neighbors,

people we love, we live next to, we work and worship with,

who were just going about their lives and met with such an

aggressive disruption that they will be recovering from for the rest of their lives.

But one young woman that I met with,

30 years old,

she is the mother of two children, a five-year-old girl and a three-year-old girl.

She fell into my arms within a matter of seconds,

sharing with me that she was unable to wish her five-year-old daughter a happy birthday.

So many of the detainees that I have met,

whether I was in Louisiana or Texas or in Massachusetts,

they are some of the greatest patriots you will ever meet.

They love this country.

And they have been making positive contributions to it every day.

And it is a great betrayal.

And you see that.

You see that betrayal in their eyes.

You see the vacancy in their eyes. You see the trauma in their eyes.

So Dilley must be shut down.

We have to abolish ICE.

And then I'm going to take it one step further and say,

any of those agents that have contributed to and caused the injury,

the harm, and even fatalities, they must also be held accountable.

And we should abolish qualified immunity for these federal law enforcement officers.

There must be some recourse and some restitution.