IUPAT General President Jimmy Williams Jr. Statement on ICE and DHS Funding Bill
Press Releases
Hanover, MD — International Union of Painters and Allied Trades General President Jimmy Williams Jr. released the following statement in response to the DHS funding bill and violence in Minneapolis:
“What have we become as a country?
In the wake of the most recent killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by masked federal agents, the Senate will take up the issue of whether to appropriate even more funding to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and CBP. Americans are rightfully furious and these facts alone should give every member of Congress pause.
Lawmakers must reckon with the reality of the behavior of these federal agencies. They are operating in secrecy and failing to identify themselves as they engage in repressive actions that the Administration moves to immediately recast as heroic while smearing the victims as domestic terrorists. They are operating with impunity, ignoring the rights of citizens and non-citizens alike as if they can never be held to account. They already receive vast resources that can and should be spent instead for the betterment of us all. This toxic mix has now killed two American citizens within the last month and injured and maimed many others.
This is not a narrow debate about immigration enforcement. It goes well beyond partisan political concerns or debates over policy. This is about our fundamental freedoms. Federal agents should not be hiding behind masks. Federal agents should not be entering homes without judicial warrants. Federal agents should not be killing or otherwise physically harming people who are legally exercising their First Amendment rights. Armed forces should not be quartered in American cities. These principles are rooted in the Declaration of Independence and are the very substance of the offenses laid out in the Bill of Rights to our Constitution, and they are being openly ignored by agents of our government, with no repercussions.
Any funding to these institutions is asking the American people to pay for the continued erosion of our rights and the degradation of our democracy. We need to take a long hard look at ourselves and ask what kind of country we want to be.”
General President Williams is not afraid to ask tough questions or to say what he truly believes, no matter who is in the White House. For interest in interviewing or booking General President Williams on your program today or this week, please contact Ryan Kekeris at rkekeris@iupat.org, or Mindy Isser at misser@iupat.org.
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The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) represents a growing community of over 140,000 active and retired craftspeople in the United States and Canada. The IUPAT membership extends far beyond the workplace. Recognized as one of the most active unions in the labor movement, IUPAT members help shape their communities in many ways: through an abiding commitment to service, by fighting passionately for workers’ rights that benefit all working families, and through effective worker education and mobilization.