October, 28 2015, 11:30am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Gaelle Gourmelon, Communications Director
Phone: +1 (202) 745-8092 x 510
E-mail: ggourmelon@worldwatch.org
WASHINGTON
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has receivedrecommendations for reaching an ambitious regional target of 48% renewable energy generation by 2027. The Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS) Baseline Report and Assessment, released today by the Worldwatch Institute, also suggests a 33% reduction in the region's energy intensity. Achieving these sustainable energy goals would result in a 46% decrease in carbon dioxide emissions over the period. The report details a work program of Priority Initiatives, Policies, Projects, and Activities (PIPPAs) as concrete steps for achieving these ambitious but feasible objectives. Supporting the full report are two slide decks visualizing the report's main findings as well as the energy situations of individual CARICOM Member States.
"A month before the milestone United Nations climate summit in Paris, and on the day of the launch of the Caribbean Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, this report leads the way for CARICOM and its Member States to become global sustainable energy leaders," says Alexander Ochs, Director of Climate and Energy at Worldwatch and lead author of the report. "We were extremely excited two years ago when CARICOM Member States reviewed an early draft of this report at a Meeting of Energy Ministers and agreed on the preliminary goal of a 48% renewable electricity share. Today's updated and extended report adds energy efficiency and climate mitigation to the equation and is accessible to anyone in the region. It provides the analysis and tools necessary to realize the vision of an economically and environmentally sustainable Caribbean region.
Caribbean governments are increasingly aware of the enormous financial, environmental, and social costs associated with continued dependence on fossil fuels. Only one CARICOM Member State, Trinidad and Tobago, has substantial fossil fuel resources of its own. All others spend sizable shares of their gross domestic product-including at least a quarter of GDP in Guyana and Montserrat-on imported petroleum products. In Jamaica, the cost of electricity is four times that in the United States. And in Haiti and Suriname, large portions of the population still lack access to modern energy services.
These and other concerns have spurred a broad regional dialogue on improving energy security and independence, fostering sustainable economic growth, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the development and efficient use of local and renewable resources. CARICOM has aimed to provide guidance and support for Member States that are willing to transition to more sustainable energy systems. In 2013, the region reached a milestone when it adopted a regional energy policy--- CARICOM's first region-wide agreement on joint energy goals--- that included the preliminary 48% renewables target. This commitment has since been lauded by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
"C-SERMS is pivotal to the attainment of the sustainable energy and development goals of the Caribbean Community. CARICOM envisions that implementing the C-SERMS Baseline Report and Assessment advances regional goals whilst simultaneously supporting Member States," says Devon Gardner, Program Manager for Energy in the CARICOM Secretariat and Head of the CARICOM Energy Unit. "All CARICOM Members have contributed to this Roadmap and the CARICOM Secretariat is excited to have this first in a series of assessments, which will provide guidance on the vision and strategy for building resilient energy systems within the region."
Established in 1973, CARICOM is a regional organization representing 15 Member States: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Despite their diversity, CARICOM Member States, with a total population of over 17 million people, face many shared energy challenges.
For most Caribbean states, inefficient transmission and distribution networks, geographic remoteness, and steep topography increase the high costs of energy systems that rely on fuel imports. The loss of large shares of GDP to energy imports diverts large sums that otherwise could be invested domestically. As a consequence, national debts rise at the expense of a country's financial ratings, and high electricity tariffs discourage economic development and foreign investment well beyond the energy sector. Additionally, all CARICOM Member States share a particular vulnerability to the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of climate change, caused largely by the burning of fossil fuels. Impacts include sea-level rise, water scarcity, coral bleaching, and increased strength and frequency of tropical storms.
"Caribbean countries are, and increasingly will be, affected greatly by the negative consequences of global climate change," says Ochs. "They have a strong incentive to demonstrate to other countries that it is possible to reduce climate-altering emissions quickly. But even if the problem of global warming did not exist, and the burning of fossil fuels did not result in extensive local air and water pollution, CARICOM Member States would still have a mandate to transition away from these fuels as swiftly as possible, for reasons of social opportunity, economic competitiveness, and national security. They owe it to their people."
Significant renewable energy resources exist across the CARICOM region and have yet to be fully harnessed, including biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, waste-to-energy, and wind. There are also tremendous opportunities to dramatically improve energy efficiency. However, realizing these sustainable energy potentials in the region will require a robust and dynamic framework of policy and legislation that, so far, remains inadequate. Although all CARICOM Member States have national energy strategies in some stage of development or implementation, most of these lack a coherent long-term vision and concrete policies and measures. Efforts so far have been disjointed and incomplete, and they face a variety of technical, financial, institutional, and capacity barriers.
The C-SERMS Baseline Report and Assessment aims to serve as a key planning tool for tackling existing barriers and communicating priorities that allow for a swift transition toward sustainable energy systems in CARICOM Member States. Suggested PIPPAs range from coordinated regional fuel efficiency standards and targeted model legislation on net metering, to the development of regional generation technology risk mitigation funds and country-specific electric system modelling efforts. The report distinguishes actions to be taken at the regional or national levels, or both, and specifies the required timeframes. It also highlights three broad priority areas for future action: transportation, regional energy trade agreements, and the water-energy-food nexus.
"Sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy can be provided throughout the Caribbean, and this report helps us see how," says Andreas Taeuber, leader of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance (REETA) project, which supports the CARICOM Energy Unit in fulfilling its political mandate. REETA is a project of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), which has supported the C-SERMS project and its Baseline Report from its inception. The Inter-American Development Bank also provided support for the project.
"Through regional collaboration, CARICOM Member States have a tremendous opportunity to spearhead sustainable energy development region-wide," says Gardner. "Full transformation of the region's energy sector will be a long-term process, requiring extensive and dedicated collaboration among Member States as well as regional and international actors. The regional approach outlined by C-SERMS ensures that no Member State will travel this path alone, but instead will be supported by a network of actors and institutions, united under a common vision for sustainability."
The C-SERMS Baseline Report and Assessment is the latest outcome of Worldwatch's longstanding and intensive engagement in the Caribbean and Central America. The Institute also recently published national sustainable energy roadmaps for the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica, as well as regional studies of Central America and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Worldwatch Institute was a globally focused environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C., founded by Lester R. Brown. Worldwatch was named as one of the top ten sustainable development research organizations by Globescan Survey of Sustainability Experts. Brown left to found the Earth Policy Institute in 2000. The Institute was wound up in 2017, after publication of its last State of the World Report. Worldwatch.org was unreachable from mid-2019.
LATEST NEWS
Outrage Pours in After House GOP Approves 'One of the Most Catastrophic Bills Passed in Modern History'
Following the 218-214 vote, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called the reconciliation package "one of the most cruel, immoral pieces of legislation that Congress has ever voted on."
"Not only did this bill get worse from the last time the House voted on it, it will be remembered as one of the most catastrophic bills passed in modern history," said Omar.
The following is a sample of reactions from lawmakers and advocacy groups decrying the legislation's attacks on healthcare, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, reproductive rights, the climate, and more.
A Tax Giveaway to the Ultra-Rich and Corporations at the Expense of Working People
People take part in a protest against the Republican tax bill in Los Angeles, California on December 4, 2017. Democrats and many economists warn that the GOP tax plan gives large tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy and will hurt middle class families. (Photo by Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
April Verrett, president of SEIU:
What the Republicans just did. It's outrageous, it's despicable, it's immoral, itss anti-American. But SEIU members won't forget. We will never forget that children will go hungry because of what they've done.
We will never forget that people will suffer because of what they've done. And why? For the biggest steal of taxpayer money, of working people’s money – not just poor people, but senior citizens. Every American will feel the repercussions of this horrible bill, but we won't forget and we will get our just due.
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution:
"Republicans have passed the most dangerous legislation of our lifetimes. This bill hands billionaires and corporations a trillion-dollar tax break, paid for by ripping health care from 17 million people, gutting funding for rural hospitals, slashing clean energy investments, and cutting food assistance for millions of children.
"This reckless sellout to the billionaire class will trigger the largest transfer of wealth from working- and middle-class Americans to the ultra-wealthy in our nation’s history. This isn't just bad policy — it's a moral failure that will cost an untold number of lives. Every lawmaker who voted for this shameful legislation must be held accountable at the ballot box."
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen:
"Trump and Congressional Republicans have certainly delivered for the billionaire class.
"There are 800 billionaires in the United States and 12 100-billionaires. They don’t need any financial help. But that’s precisely what Trump and Congressional Republicans have done, with a monstrosity of a bill that may constitute the single biggest upward transfer of wealth in American history."
Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy:
This abominable bill will make history—in appalling ways. Never before has legislation taken so much from struggling families to give so much to the richest. It makes the biggest cuts to food aid for hungry families, executes the largest cuts to health care ever, adds trillions to the national debt – all to give $117 billion to the richest 1 percent in a single year. It’s no wonder that this bill is also extremely unpopular. Historians – and voters – will look back at this as a dark day in U.S. history.
David Kass, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness:
This bill represents a massive transfer of wealth from the working class to the top 1%. It enacts the largest Medicaid and SNAP cuts in history while adding over $3 trillion to the national debt. Furthermore it makes the tax code more complex with new special interest tax breaks and handouts to the ultra wealthy. In the coming years, Democrats must prioritize repealing and replacing these disastrous policies to protect American families from rising costs and loss of healthcare coverage. We need to create a truly fair tax system and an economy that works for all Americans, not just the wealthy few.
A Historic Blow to Medicaid, SNAP, Social Security, and other Anti-Poverty Programs
Care workers with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) participate in a living cemetery protest to denounce the impact to patients, families and workers if Republicans cut Medicaid, healthcare and SNAP to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy at the US Capitol June 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for SEIU)
Bishop William Barber, co-founder Repairers of the Breach:
Today, Congress passed one of the most morally-bankrupt pieces of legislation in our nation’s history. This big ugly bill is the largest cut to healthcare and food assistance for children in our nation’s history, and it funds a war on immigrant communities. All the while, the bill gives tax breaks to the wealthiest among us—on the backs of our most vulnerable neighbors.
By passing this bill, lawmakers have officially codified the deaths of thousands of people. It’s policy murder in plain sight.”
Many of the people who passed this bill also consistently profess to be led by religious values. There is no religion that supports the degradation of humans. Policymakers can’t just claim their religious values in one breath, and then turn around and approve legislation that’s guaranteed to kill people.
The passage of this bill is deadly, but it is not a defeat. We must meet it with a resurrection. We will organize voters in every impacted community to push legislators who voted for this bill out of office and build a movement together that can reconstruct our democracy.
Americans for Tax Fairness:
Today, President Trump and his billionaire-backed Republican-controlled Congress successfully passed their reconciliation bill, passing the largest cuts in Medicaid and SNAP history while slashing billions from other essential programs to fund massive tax giveaways for billionaires and large corporations. The bill will raise average Americans’ costs by causing 17 million Americans to lose their health insurance and 2 million to lose access to food assistance. Throughout the opaque legislative process, the Republican majority in both houses didn’t hold a single hearing on their legislative proposals, and forced their members to vote under the cover of night and during weekend sessions, reflecting the GOP majority’s pattern of minimizing public attention to a wildly unpopular legislative package.Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans:
Today, the House turned its back on the very people they were elected to serve. This bill isn't about lowering prices or helping everyday Americans — it’s about lining the pockets of billionaires and big corporations while ripping away essential health care and support from seniors, people with disabilities, and working families.
Congressional Republicans have just voted for tax giveaways for the wealthy while throwing millions of people off of Medicaid, slashing half a trillion dollars from Medicare, and driving hundreds of nursing homes and local hospitals into crisis. All of this will make it harder for older Americans to get the health care they need at a price they can afford.
To add insult to injury, this bill hastens the depletion of the Social Security Trust Fund's reserves by one year. It's a slap in the face to every family who paid into Social Security and Medicare over a lifetime of work.
We will not forget how our representatives voted today. We will make sure every older American knows what is in this legislation — and who to hold accountable for this debacle.
Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US:
Today's party-line vote by House Republicans to rip healthcare away and raise grocery costs for tens of millions of Americans is as devastating as it is enraging. For months, a decisive number of House Republicans voiced their concerns, acknowledging that this bill would make people poorer and sicker, only to vote in favor of this bill. It’s a cruel betrayal and proof positive you cannot trust career politicians who will put their interests over those of their own constituents' health care and wallets.
Bobby Mukkamala, M.D., president of the American Medical Association (AMA):
Today is a sad and unnecessarily harmful day for patients and health care across the country, and its impact will reverberate for years. Care will be less accessible, and patients may simply forego seeing their physician because the lifelines of Medicaid and CHIP are severed.
This is bad for my patients in Flint, Michigan, and it is devastating for the estimated 11.8 million people who will have no health insurance coverage as a result of this bill.
The American Medical Association’s mission is promoting the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health. This bill moves us in the wrong direction. It will make it harder to access care and make patients sicker. It will make it more likely that acute, treatable illnesses will turn into life-threatening or costly chronic conditions. That is disappointing, maddening, and unacceptable.
Max Richtman, president & CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare:
In enacting President Trump’s ‘Unfair, Ugly Bill,’ House Republicans have voted to rip health coverage away from as many as 16 million Americans and food assistance from millions more. Make no mistake, the deepest cuts in history to Medicaid and SNAP will devastate older Americans who depend on both programs for health coverage, long-term care, and nutrition. 7.2 million seniors are dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid; 6.5 million rely on SNAP benefits to stay healthy and make ends meet. The bill could even trigger automatic cuts to Medicare down the road.
These beneficiaries are some of the most vulnerable members of our society — and Republicans have put them at risk in order to pay for another tax cut mainly for the rich. Republicans have passed this mean-spirited legislation with little regard for public opinion or well-being. Recent polling suggests that Americans who know about the bill are against it 2 to 1. No matter. Republicans are enacting a craven agenda to shower their wealthy donors with tax cuts at the expense of seniors and lower-income Americans.
This bill has rightly been called ‘downright regressive and cruel’ — and ‘the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in U.S. history.’ President Trump was planning to sign the bill on July 4th. We can’t think of anything LESS patriotic than depriving millions of Americans of health coverage to further enrich the already wealthy. This is not responsible leadership. It’s just the opposite. Make no mistake: older Americans and their advocates WILL NOT FORGET. Republicans will be held accountable — now and during the 2026 elections. If our response were boiled down to one word, it simply would be SHAME!
National Nurses United:
This is among the darkest days in the history of U.S. health care. People will suffer and die because of the cuts in this legislation to fund tax cuts for billionaires — certainly in the short term and potentially for decades to come if nothing is done. The policy goal here is clear: Take away everyday people’s health care coverage. Every politician who supports this legislation has blood on their hands and only themselves to blame when the impacts of these cuts devastate a health care system already in a near-constant state of crisis. These cuts will hurt these lawmakers’ constituents, our patients, who are already dealing with a broken health care system.
Lawmakers have effectively signed the death warrants for millions today. It will steal money from safety-net community hospitals and reproductive health care clinics, like Planned Parenthood. It will kick people off their health insurance. It will effectively punish people for getting sick or injured, making us all sicker and less healthy.
While we will only understand the larger impacts of this law as they unfold, experts have made clear that the potential is devastating: Millions will lose insurance coverage, and hundreds of hospitals will see critical hits to their funding. Meanwhile, the rich will get richer.
A Gut Punch to Environmental Protections, Clean Energy, and the Effort to Confront the Climate Crisis
Protestors hold up a sign reading "Trump Climate Disaster" as they demonstrate during a rally opposing the inauguration of the 47th US President Donald Trump, outside Downing Street on January 20, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Beth Lowell, Oceana vice president for the United States:
“Thriving and abundant oceans should not be bargaining chips at the Congressional table. This big, terrible bill is the worst environmental legislation in American history, unraveling safeguards and investments that Americans — and coastal economies — rely on and need. This disastrous bill would require the largest expansion of offshore oil and gas lease sales by area ever in the United States. We should be protecting our coasts and oceans, not opening the floodgates to more offshore drilling and increasing the risk of dangerous oil spills.”
Manish Bapna, president of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
Every lawmaker who voted for this cynical measure chose tax cuts for the wealthiest over Americans' health, pocketbooks, public lands and waters -- and a safe climate. They should be ashamed.
This measure gives the wealthiest a tax break while the rest of us will pay more on our electric bills and at the pump. So much for President Trump's promise to save Americans money on their energy bills.
This Trump energy tax will cost electricity customers billions of dollars in higher bills. Drivers will need to fill up more often at the pump. And costs for things like cleaner cars, solar energy and efficient air conditioners will skyrocket.
We urgently need more clean, affordable energy, but this measure would bring the renaissance in American clean energy production to a halt and send good, domestic manufacturing jobs to our foreign rivals.
Oil executives, industrial loggers and coal CEOs can all celebrate today as they gain unprecedented access to drill, log and mine on our public lands. The rest of us will soon find no trespassing signs on lands that have belonged to all of us for more than a century.
John Noël, Greenpeace USA deputy climate program director:
This is a vote that will live in infamy. This bill is what happens when a major political party, in the grips of a personality cult, teams up with oil company CEOs, hedge fund donors, and climate deniers. All you need to do is look at who benefits from actively undercutting the clean energy industry that is creating tens of thousands of jobs across political geographies.
The megabill isn’t about reform—it's about rewarding the super rich and doling out fossil fuel industry handouts, all while dismantling the social safety nets on which millions depend for stability. It is a bet against the future.
Ben Jealous, executive director of the Sierra Club:
"This is a sad and scary day for all who work to build up our communities, care for our friends and neighbors, and wish to leave this planet in a better place for future generations. Instead of working to make life better for American families and communities, what Donald Trump and his loyalists in Congress have delivered today will mean higher energy costs for working families and small businesses, the end of life-saving health care that millions rely on, and ceding the race to build the clean energy economy of tomorrow to China. Trump and Congressional Republicans have advanced the most anti-environment, anti-job, and anti-American bill in history. The Sierra Club will not forget it. America will not forget it.
Gretchen Goldman, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists:
Our country will be paying the price for these reckless policies for decades to come.
In passing this bill, lawmakers repeatedly overrode the needs and interests of their constituents. When benefits are lost, when energy prices spike, when major clean energy and clean transportation investments are canceled, when jobs are cut, when climate-exacerbated extreme weather disasters hit, people should know who they have to thank.
This bill is a damning indictment of Congress' priorities and values. Our country needs policymakers willing to confront the challenges of our time and fight for a better tomorrow, not sell out America for the benefit of a few.
An Assault on Reproductive Freedom and Health
Women hold signs during a protest against recently passed abortion ban bills at the Georgia State Capitol building, on May 21, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
Kelly Baden, vice president for public policy at the Guttmacher Institute:
The reconciliation bill is a sweeping attack on the health, rights and autonomy of millions of people across the country. It would strip health coverage from those who need it most, gut access to reproductive health care, and impose dangerous restrictions that disproportionately harm low-income communities, people of color, and those already facing systemic barriers to care."
One of the most egregious provisions in the bill would block Planned Parenthood and other providers of abortion care from receiving Medicaid reimbursement for contraceptive services and other care for an entire year. This politically motivated exclusion could force one in three Planned Parenthood health centers to close their doors, cutting off access to contraception, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings and abortion care for countless patients. These are not just numbers—these are real people whose lives and futures are being put at risk.
On top of that, the bill’s broader Medicaid cuts represent a direct attack on the health and economic security of people with low incomes. Medicaid is not a luxury—it’s a lifeline. It ensures access to essential care, including sexual and reproductive health services, for millions of people. Slashing this program to finance tax cuts for the wealthy is not just wrong—it’s cruel.
Let’s be clear: this bill is about advancing an extreme ideological agenda that prioritizes control over compassion, and politics over public health.
Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America:
The reconciliation bill is a targeted attack on Planned Parenthood health centers and patients that cannot stand. Everyone deserves access to high-quality, affordable health care. That’s what we’ve been fighting for the last century — and we’ll never stop. We’ll be suing the Trump administration to stop this unlawful attack. See you in court.
Dr. Jamila Perritt, Physicians for Reproductive Health president and CEO:
Federal programs like Medicaid, CHIP, SNAP, as well as funding for full spectrum sexual and reproductive health care are all left at the mercy of cowardly, out of touch lawmakers who value junk science over the evidence-based practices that keep our communities safe. Limitations on these essential programs will have horrible consequences for tens of millions of people and for our entire health care landscape. In contrast of its name, this bill is one of the ugliest actions we have seen from the Trump Administration to date.
Only six months into a second Trump term, we have seen Title X funding be stripped away, the continued criminalization of those seeking lifesaving health care like abortion, as well as politically motivated attacks on those in support of full spectrum sexual and reproductive health care. This is not a coincidence – it is intentional. This is not, nor has it ever been acceptable.
Progressive Lawmakers Weigh In
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during the Hands Off! day of action against the Trump administration and Elon Musk on April 05, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Community Change Action)
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.):
Because my Republican colleagues cowered to special interests and their billionaire donors, 17 million Americans will lose their health coverage. This passage could cause 50,000 Americans to die each year because Republicans shamefully voted to kick millions off Medicaid and failed to extend the premium tax credits in the Affordable Care Act. It will also increase healthcare costs and endanger access to care for all Americans. Rural hospitals will be forced to shut down. Nursing homes and community health centers will be gravely impacted.
This bill is the biggest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in history. While working people will be devastated, billionaires will receive massive tax cuts. Not only are the tax cuts permanent for the ultra-wealthy, any benefit to low-income families is only temporary. It will deepen the wealth and income inequality gap.
In poll after poll, the American people are clear in their disdain for this bill. From cuts to nutrition assistance to increasing the cost of college to higher utility bills – the American people are clear-eyed in opposing it. Donald Trump and Republicans know this, which is why they rammed this bill through. Every single American will remember who chose to side with billionaires instead of working people.
This bill is morally bankrupt and an attack on working people. For those reasons, I voted NO.”
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas):
"This bill is a betrayal of working Americans. So that billionaires can buy bigger yachts, millions of working people will be unable to afford to go to the doctor, put food on the table, or keep the lights on.
For years, Washington Republicans have talked a big game about becoming the party of working people. This vote should be the final nail in the coffin of that idea. In the end, Washington Republicans will simply betray the working class people they won over in the last election. They've done what they always do: take from the working class to give to the rich.
As Democrats, we must make sure they never live that down."
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.):
"This bill is an act of violence against our communities. At a time of extreme income and wealth inequality, while 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, this budget is absolutely devastating for the working families we represent."
Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.):
"Republicans just passed one of the most harmful bills in modern history that will devastate our communities for years to come."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.):
"Republicans in the House just cheered as they voted to kick 17 million people off their healthcare."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.):
"I don't think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ICE. This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion—making ICE bigger than the FBI, U.S. Bureau of Prisons, DEA, and others combined. It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child's play. And people are disappearing."
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.):
"Republicans have passed a bill that will be a death sentence—denying millions medical care, denying children food, and violently deporting immigrant families to destabilized countries. This is unforgivable."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.):
"Republicans passed Trump's Big Bad Betrayal Bill to kick 17 million Americans off their healthcare for a billionaire tax cut. Cruel, horrifying, and outrageous. But we must not lose hope. Democrats will not only fight back—we'll fight forward, press on, and justice will be won."
Rep. Becca Ballint (D-Vt.):
"The House shamefully passed Trump’s big ugly, horrific, terrible bill that will leave 17 million people without health insurance. I, like every Democrat, voted HELL NO. People are going to suffer. I'm horrified that Congress would pass such a harmful piece of legislation."
"I never want to hear a Republican say they care about 'fiscal responsibility' ever again. This bill is the largest increase in our national debt in history."
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.):
House Republicans just passed Trump's evil, Big Ugly Budget. They caved, voting to take health care away from 17 million people, slash food aid, and rob the poor to reward the ultrarich. It's the largest transfer of wealth from the working class to billionaires in history. This is a dark day in America and a shameful betrayal to those we serve. Our people deserve better and I will always fight like hell to get it. The fight continues.
Turbo-charging Trump's Mass Deportation Machine and Anti-Immigrant Agenda
California National Guard stands guard as protesters clash with law enforcement in downtown Los Angeles at the Metropolitan Detention Center due to the immigration raids roil L.A. on Sunday, June 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Joanna Kuebler, chief of programs at America’s Voice:
Americans are already recoiling against the harm done by this administration's deportation agenda—the masked ICE agents running amok; the industries and small businesses worried about their future viability; the fear spreading in American communities and the separations tearing apart American families.
Sadly, we fear it will get all the worse with the new and unprecedented infusion of tens of billions of dollars for Stephen Miller to fully scale the personal mass deportation crusade he’s dreamed about since his teenage years. Earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance admitted that slashing Medicaid, the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, the fiscal recklessness and all of the other unpopular and damaging provisions of this bill were 'immaterial' compared to the ICE and immigration enforcement money.
Yet Stephen Miller's and MAGA's dreams are most Americans' nightmares. Turbocharging mass deportation endangers our economy, our families, our communities, and our history as a nation of immigrants.
Roots Action:
The expansion of fascism is here:
- $74.9 billion for ICE detention and removal
- $65.6 billion for CBP infrastructure, hiring, tech
- $10 billion DHS slush fund
- $3.5 billion for state enforcementAnd more!
Hamilton Nolan, independent journalist :
This bill contains enough money to build a new system of immigration detention centers far bigger than the entire federal prison system. The American Immigration Council says that it will be enough to facilitate the “daily detention of at least 116,000 non-citizens.” It will let ICE hire more field agents than the FBI. Its $170 billion in funding for Stephen Miller’s rabid campaign to purge America of brown people is comparable to the total annual funding for the United States Army.
Donald Trump envisions himself as an all-powerful leader whose will is equal to law. He is bent on revenge against his political enemies. He has installed extreme loyalists in the Justice Department, the FBI, the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and all other security departments. The courts have declined to meaningfully restrain his abuses of these departments. This budget will give him the final piece of the puzzle that he needs to achieve his fever dream: a nationwide army of masked, unaccountable armed agents empowered to snatch anyone they like off the streets, and the physical infrastructure to imprison or deport those people at will. Thousands of men with guns, unrestrained by judges or local police, who do not answer to Congress, who point guns at the press, who arrest whoever they want, for reasons they do not share, and do whatever they wish with those people. The implications of this are going to make America a much darker place.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, American Immigration Council senior fellow:
With this vote, Congress makes ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in history, with more money per year at its disposal over the next four years than the budgets of the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, and Bureau of Prisons combined.
Uzra Zeya, CEO of Human Rights First:
“As millions of Americans lose access to health insurance, this bill forks over more than $150 billion to supercharge the policies of grave harm we've seen these past six months. It will fund more disappearances of people seeking asylum in our country, more masked agents in our courtrooms and neighborhoods to detain and manhandle those following the rules to be here, and more prisons where families, including infants, can now be incarcerated indefinitely due to this Big, Ugly, Betrayal of a bill."
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