Editor, Gazette-Journal: On May 22, 2024, the House of Representatives voted (215 to 214) to pass H.R.1, which among other things increased the funding of Immigration Control Enforcement from approximately $8 billion per year by adding $29.9 billion to their budget and $45 billion for new detention centers. Was Rob Wittman’s vote the deciding one? It appears it could have been. Then recently, he voted for another $10 billion. Are Rob Wittman’s votes supercharging ICE? Recently, ICE broke down an old man’s door, put a gun to his daughter-in-law’s head, and cruelly dragged him out in his underwear in minus 9 degree weather. He is a naturalized citizen! There were 32 deaths in ICE detention in 2025. These deaths occurred as ICE ramped up its immigration operations, detaining a record number of people in December. The agency was holding 68,440 people in detention in mid-December; nearly 75 percent of them had no criminal convictions. December was also the deadliest month in ICE custody—sev...