July 18, 2026
Dear Friends,
For nearly 18 months, Donald Trump has presided over an administration characterized by unmitigated cruelty and a total lack of accountability. From his first day in office, it has been clear that Trump and his allies feel no obligation to respond to the needs of the people they claim to serve, and no responsibility to keep our communities safe. Instead, they have made terrorizing immigrant families their top priority — allowing an army of ICE agents to tear apart communities and commit cold-blooded murders without facing any consequences. This reign of lies and terror must end, and my Democratic colleagues and I are doing everything in our power to hold ICE and its enablers accountable.
Since the beginning of his second term, Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has unleashed a wave of violence on immigrant communities across the nation. Trump’s gang of masked ICE agents has descended on thousands of families and individuals, breaking into their homes without warrants, separating children from their parents, and in many cases employing deadly force without provocation. Over the past two weeks, following the earlier murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by ICE in Minneapolis this year, we saw yet another outbreak of horrifying violence as ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas and Juan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine.
Mr. Salgado Araujo, the father of three U.S. citizens and a 35-year resident of the United States, was executed on his way to work when ICE agents stopped his van while searching for two other men who were not in the vehicle. Mr. Guerrero, a Colombian national and legal U.S. resident, was shot in the head in his own car after a traffic stop and left to die on the pavement in handcuffs in front of his 3-year-old daughter. His last words were, “I tried to turn around.”
These murders have devastated families and communities, leaving scars that will never fully heal. But the pain experienced by these families has only been exacerbated by DHS’ brazen lies about the victims. After smearing Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti as “domestic terrorists” back in January, ICE resorted to the same playbook with its latest victims, claiming that Mr. Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle” before his murder and alleging that ICE officers killed Mr. Guerrero out of concern for “public safety” — both lies that were almost immediately disproven by eyewitnesses and video evidence. In the words of a letter my colleagues and I sent to demand answers from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, “DHS has lost the trust of the American people and can no longer be considered a reliable source of facts.”
There can be no question that these recent killings are a direct result of DHS’ refusal to hold its own personnel accountable. Emboldened by the complete lack of repercussions for the officers who murdered Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, ICE agents are continuing to commit heinous crimes — secure in the knowledge that they will never face consequences for their actions. This is no way to run an agency ostensibly focused on law enforcement and public safety — which is why I’ve repeatedly called for the complete abolition of ICE.
As more and more innocent people have fallen victim to ICE’s abuses — from those left dead in the streets to those facing abhorrent conditions in overcrowded detention centers — it has become abundantly clear that this out-of-control agency is not making us safer. Instead, its officers are inflicting unimaginable pain and terror on families across this country while their leaders send an unmistakable message that they can act with total impunity. It’s time for immediate action to ensure this kind of violence does not continue — and the surest way to bring an end to ICE’s horrors is by abolishing the agency once and for all.
Time and again, Donald Trump and his allies have turned a blind eye to the suffering caused by ICE — either remaining silent or parroting the same lies put forward by DHS officials. But as this lawless agency’s killing spree continues, more and more Americans are recognizing the fact that ICE is not responsibly enforcing our nation’s immigration laws; it is imposing terror, with deadly consequences. That’s why I’ll continue to stand together with our communities to demand justice, accountability, and a future where no one on American soil has to live their life in fear.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations from governments and agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- Last week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the availability of $10 million in new funding from the New York Providing Local Access to Essential Sustenance (NY PLATES) Capital Grant Program!
- This funding will support food banks and other organizations across New York State that provide emergency food assistance to those who need it most.
- This funding, administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), will assist these organizations in building the modern facilities, equipment, and infrastructure needed to serve more families.
- The application period for the program opened on July 8, 2026, and applications must be submitted by August 20, 2026.
- Awards are expected to be announced no earlier than October 20, 2026.
- For more information about this exciting program, click HERE.
- Additional information, as well as the recording of a webinar reviewing the RFA and application process, can be found on DASNY’s website HERE.
