(content warning: mentions of physical and sexual abuse)

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Dear Director Olsen, Office of Civil Rights and Diversity, Office of Third Goal and Returned Volunteer Services, and my fellow evacuated and/or Returned Peace Corps Volunteers,

The global Peace Corps evacuation in March 2020 left approximately 7,300 American Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in the lurch. Many Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) are still struggling to find employment in the midst of this unprecedented economic reality. The Peace Corps Career Link is a valuable resource for RPCVs during their job search, connecting us with positions "just for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers" with employers who "value the skills and experiences Peace Corps Volunteers bring to their organization" (source: https://www.peacecorps.gov/returned-volunteers/careers/career-link/ ). Many RPCVs have found positions with government agencies, NGOs, and private sector employers through the site.

However, many in the RPCV community were shocked and disgusted to find a job posting advertised on the Career Link for positions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE's reputation certainly precedes it; the agency is infamous for the abysmal conditions faced by migrants who find themselves imprisoned in its detention centers. The agency has committed a litany of human and civil rights violations, including but not limited to: cases of wrongful arrest and wrongful detention (source: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-citizens-ice-20180427-htmlstory.html ), a sickening pattern of sexual and physical abuse by ICE employees against detainees (source: https://theintercept.com/2018/04/11/immigration-detention-sexual-abuse-ice-dhs/ ), negligent medical care leading to preventable deaths (source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/08/immigrant-detention-centers-medical-care-deaths ), skyrocketing COVID-19 rates among detainees (source: https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/ices-lack-of-transparency-about-covid-19-in-detention-will-cost-lives/ ) and the agency's inhumane use of a disinfectant that causes bleeding and pain (source: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/report-detention-centers-use-disinfectant-causing-bleeding-and-pain-2020-6 ).

The ACLU states in no uncertain terms that ICE's "enforcement programs pose a variety of threats to civil liberties: They implicate the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, the constitutional guarantee of due process, and the constitutional guarantee of equal protection and freedom from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and national origin. ICE’s enforcement practices also impose heavy social costs, tearing American families apart and undermining community trust in law enforcement" (source: https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights/ice-and-border-patrol-abuses ).

Such atrocities are antithetical to Peace Corps' mission of promoting world peace and friendship between peoples. Promoting ICE career opportunities through an official Peace Corps channel such as RPCV Career Link sends a message of approval for and complicity with ICE's actions. This hypocrisy is absolutely unacceptable. Furthermore, a connection of any kind between Peace Corps and ICE may permanently damage Peace Corps' reputation in many of the countries where Volunteers serve and jeopardize the trust and goodwill that PCVs work so hard to foster. And by promoting an agency that terrorizes immigrant communities, Peace Corps fails to stand with those in the RPCV community who themselves come from an immigrant background.

We demand that Peace Corps undertake the following actions:

1) Remove the "ICE Career Opportunities" posting immediately

2) Pledge not to promote ICE in any way going forward

3) Issue a statement affirming Peace Corps' commitment to its core values and denouncing ICE's rights abuses