United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Representative:
On behalf of our 3 million members and the 50 million students they serve, we strongly urge you to VOTE NO on S. Con. Res. 33, the FY2026 budget resolution that prioritizes additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). Votes on this issue may be included in NEA’s report card for the 119th Congress.
The consequences of current immigration enforcement practices are already clear—and unacceptable. Students are sitting in classrooms fearful that their families could be torn apart, parents are disengaging from school events out of concern for their safety, and communities are being destabilized. These conditions are incompatible with learning, and expanding enforcement will only deepen the damage.
Increasing funding for ICE and CBP would make schools less safe, heighten traumas, suppress student participation, and undermine educational outcomes. Choosing to expand these programs, despite overwhelming evidence of their harm, is a conscious decision to put a lawless agency ahead of children.
Just last year, Congress provided billions in additional funding to ICE and CBP through reconciliation, without meaningful guardrails, oversight, or accountability. Those funds are already being used to escalate aggressive enforcement, including the detention of families and young children. Doubling down on this approach is indefensible.
NEA has consistently raised alarms about these immigration enforcement practices because they create fear, disrupt learning environments, and harm students’ access to education. Aggressive enforcement actions near schools and in communities undermine the safe, stable conditions that students need to succeed. Increasing funding for ICE and CBP would only intensify the harm, reflecting misplaced national priorities.
Your vote on this issue is a defining choice. Increasing funding for ICE and CBP without meaningful reforms will continue to inflict harm on our children, our communities, and our public education system.
Please VOTE NO on the FY2026 budget resolution.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Johnson Trinca
Director of Government Relations
National Education Association
