Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) led 32 Members of Congress in requesting that the House Appropriations Committee restrict the Department of Homeland Security from using federal funding for the purchase of warehouses for immigration detention in the FY27 Appropriations bill. The members are calling on Congress to instead redirect funds – including unspent funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill– from detention to services that communities need.  As reported, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is moving forward with plans to cage people in massive warehouse camps across the country. DHS estimates that the project– referred to as Detention Reengineering Initiative– will cost taxpayers $38.3 billion – nearly 10 times ICE’s entire FY2024 detention budget. If enacted, the project would rapidly increase detention capacity to 92,600 new “beds,” drastically expanding the detention system within months. The letter follows Congresswoman Ramirez’s introduction of H.R. 7190, the Melt ICE Act, to end the detention and monitoring of immigrants, disrupt DHS’s immigration enforcement, and return funds to impacted communities for wraparound services.  The legislation is currently cosponsored by 13 members of Congress.