Washington, D.C. — National civil rights organization American Atheists is urging the U.S. Senate to block any additional public funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), all of which are increasingly operating outside the law — deploying militarized and lethal force against civilians, detaining people without due process, and acting with impunity.
American Atheists, which advocates on behalf of atheists, agnostics, humanists, and other nonreligious Americans, warns these abuses of power have been repeatedly endorsed online with white Christian nationalist rhetoric by the official accounts of the DHS, the White House, and other federal agencies, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Top-ranking executive officials now routinely and openly use exclusionary language to promote Christianity and a narrative that equates “Americanism” with Christianity alone. By portraying non-Christians, and particularly Muslims, as threats rather than as people equally entitled to constitutional protections, this administration is reinforcing a dangerous framework in which civil rights are not universally guaranteed but conditional — based on race, creed, country of origin, gender, sexual orientation, affiliation, viewpoint, and so on.
“This language is a dangerous rejection of the principles and values our nation was founded upon and which this organization was founded to protect: liberty, equality, and justice for all,” said Nick Fish, President of American Atheists. “When government violence is framed as divinely sanctioned or morally righteous, constitutional limits become optional. But the fact remains: Our civil rights are not negotiable or expendable. This administration’s actions imperil our immigrant neighbors, but they also threaten the secular foundation of our democracy.”
The recent killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good are only the most visible manifestations of a broader pattern of abuse, including the unlawful detention of U.S. citizens; the abduction of innocent children and the separation of families; the excessive use of surveillance technologies and chemical munitions; the shootings of civilians in Portland and Chicago; and widespread reports of denied medical care, sexual abuse, and inhumane conditions inside detention facilities, including at least one apparent homicide at the hands of federal agents.
“Armed, masked federal agents surveilling, threatening, and killing Americans for exercising their constitutional rights and then facing no civil rights inquiries or criminal investigations is not legitimate law enforcement but state violence,” said Fish. “It is the predictable result of years of dehumanizing rhetoric from the extreme religious right, as well as the preventable outcome of bipartisan congressional choices that awarded DHS, ICE, and CBP with more money, more weapons, and more power, all while stripping away accountability to the people they are meant to serve.”
Congress approved almost $180 billion in supplemental funding for DHS in 2025 as part of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” This windfall of public dollars fueled the expansion of mass detention centers where 32 people died last year in ICE’s custody. This week, the Senate is expected to vote on a funding package that includes an additional $64.4 billion for DHS. American Atheists joins legal scholars, human rights watchdogs, civil rights advocates, faith leaders, and the American people in urging the Senate to, at a minimum:
- Refuse to approve any FY2026 appropriations bill that includes additional funding for DHS, ICE, or CBP, without adequate and enforceable limits on warrantless arrests, racial profiling, and the federal invasion of U.S. cities and states — including schools, courthouses, houses of worship, and hospitals.
- Prohibit DHS from transferring or reprogramming funds to expand detention operations, deploy federal agents or troops, or evade congressional oversight.
- Require independent, fully transparent investigations to provide real accountability for agent-involved shootings, in-custody deaths, and violations of constitutional rights.
- Halt all deportations to nations in which religious minorities, nonreligious people, and LGBTQ+ individuals face imprisonment, torture, or execution.
“No one should have to die or disappear for lawmakers to uphold their oath to our nation’s Constitution,” said Fish. “All people of conscience — of all religions and none — who believe in the rule of law, in democracy, and in the inherent worth and dignity of all people, have a responsibility to speak out against the actual domestic terrorism threat facing our country today: an empowered white Christian nationalist movement that excludes entire communities, excuses cruelty, suppresses dissent, and erodes public trust and accountability.”
American Atheists offers its sincere condolences to the loved ones of Alex, Renee, and the countless victims of immigration enforcement and state violence — to all the people who have been killed, injured, detained unlawfully, separated from their families, and left to suffer in detention out of public view. We condemn these actions that overwhelmingly harm America’s already marginalized communities — immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, people of color, and minority religious groups, including atheists fleeing persecution. And we stand in solidarity with all those using their First Amendment rights to resist and demand justice.
We encourage our members and all people of conscience to contact your Senators today and to consider directly supporting the organizations on the frontlines in Minnesota by visiting StandWithMinnesota.com.
