U.S. Congresswoman Shontel Brown has announced that although she voted against a controversial funding bill for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the spending bill passed.
She is warning that the agency should not receive additional resources amid ongoing allegations of human rights abuses.
In a post shared on Instagram, Rep. Brown said the outcome was deeply troubling. “Just voted No on the ICE funding bill — but this fight is not over,” she wrote, signaling continued opposition to the measure.
In an accompanying video message, the Ohio Democrat accused ICE of operating with what she described as “unchecked power,” citing a range of alleged abuses, including shootings linked to ICE operations, deaths in detention, racial profiling, and the separation of children from their parents. She also referenced incidents in which babies were hospitalized after exposure to tear gas and cases of individuals being forcibly removed from vehicles or homes.
“This is what happens when an agency is given unchecked power,” Brown said, arguing that Congress should not allocate additional taxpayer funds to institutions accused of “terrorizing our communities and committing abuses every single day.”
Although the bill passed, Brown stated that congressional opposition to ICE funding is far from over. She pointed to what she described as a $75 billion pool of existing ICE funding approved under a previous Republican-backed law, calling it a “slush fund” that she believes should be repealed.
The vote comes amid heightened national debate in the United States over immigration enforcement, federal spending priorities, and the balance between border security and civil liberties.
Democratic lawmakers critical of ICE have increasingly called for stricter oversight or reductions in funding, while Republicans argue the agency plays a central role in enforcing immigration law and maintaining public safety.
Brown’s remarks place her among a growing bloc of U.S. lawmakers pressing for immigration reform and stronger accountability mechanisms for federal law enforcement agencies.
