One_liners, must reads
Welcome to our first weekly edition of border_lines, a collection of one_liner news you can use to advance the fight for dignity, safety and equality for all border_landers.
- Today SBCC is launching the Real Dream campaign, which is about protecting Dreamers and the original Dreamers _their parents and loved ones. Backroom deals that protect young immigrants at the expense of their families, by further militarizing border communities in exchange for a Dream Act, run counter to the Real Dream and must be stopped.
- Next week, SBCC will take a delegation of Border Dreamers from Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to Washington, DC, to meet with congressional members and to share their testimonies at a congressional briefing that SBCC is co-sponsoring with United We Dream and the American Civil Liberties Union.
- Why we are doing this. We want to tell congressional members to stop harming border communities and issue a reminder that a clean and bipartisan DREAM Act already exists. Introduced in July by both the Senate (S.1615) and the House (H.R. 3440), this act completes the task of providing a roadmap to citizenship for young immigrants. Already 22,000 people are losing the protections once given to them under DACA. Congress needs to act now. #CleanDreamNow
-
Immigration can often divide us, but on this, most of us agree. A zillion polls (including FOX News) suggest that at least 80 percent of Americans support a bill that provides a roadmap to citizenship for immigrant youth who are American in all but paperwork. One of these polls comes to us from the largest border city in the country, San Diego. A poll by Alliance San Diego showed that 82% of voters favor allowing young immigrants to earn permanent legal status in the United States, but more importantly, a full two-thirds agree that Congress should protect Dreamers first before considering more border enforcement. Congress, are you listening?
-
Obsessed with piling on more enforcement to an already hyper-militarized border region, Republican_and some Democratic_congressional members persist on introducing or supporting bills that would trade the security of young immigrants for the insecurity of their families and loved ones, who are vulnerable to deportation when we increase the number of agents roaming in their communities. Think about it, 1 out of 5 DACA recipients live in the border region, and about half live in the four southern border states. They live here with their families. Why would we protect the children but turn our backs on the parents who raised them?
-
Two of the worst bills introduced_so far_are H.R. 3548, Border Security for America Act of 2017, which includes $10 billion for a border wall, 5,000 more Border Patrol agents, and additional surveillance technologies (such as more sophisticated radar systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and man-portable drones); and S.1757 Building America’s Trust Act, which contains most of H.R. 3548 along with other more draconian measures. Adding to the list is the Border Security and Deferred Action Recipient Relief Act, which grants $1.6 billion for planning a wall and for the construction of 74 miles of new (and replacement) bollard fencing, levees, and secondary fencing. Here’s a great story on why the border is as secure as ever, courtesy of…wait for it…the Department of Homeland Security.
-
Line_up: The Senate Committee on Finance confirmation hearing for Kevin K. McAleenan to be Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection is Tuesday, October 24, at 10 a.m. in 215 Dirksen. You can watch the webcast here.
-
ICYMI: Senator Blumenthal led a congressional sign_on letter (20 Senators signed) to DHS Acting Secretary Elaine Duke that highlighted the importance of DHS’ sensitive locations policy and demanded answers in the case of Irma and Oscar Sanchez who were apprehended by CBP after bringing their baby to the hospital for emergency surgery in Texas. Representative Serrano issued a House version of the letter signed by 84 representatives.
-
Best Line: New Mexico Comunidades en Acción y de Fé (CAFé) joined DACA recipients in demanding Congress pass a clean Dream Act. “It is unconscionable that Congress will continue to use ‘Dreamers’ as a bargaining chip to further militarize southern border communities,” said Johana Bencomo, community organizer at CAFé.
-
On Point: Brian Erickson, interim director at the ACLU Regional Center for Border Rights, published a great OpEd in the Santa Fe New Mexican, “New Mexico needs unequivocal support for our families.”
-
So what can you do to draw the line? Please support our Border Dreamers by calling your congressional members. You can find out who your elected official is here or you can call the U.S. Capitol at (202) 224-3121. An SBCC sample script can be found here. We simply don’t need more Border Patrol boots, immigration detention beds, or walls. Congress needs to pass a clean DREAM Act now. #NoBootsNoBedsNoWall #CleanDreamNow
-------------------
border_lines is published every Friday for your reading pleasure. If you’d like to submit an item for inclusion, please email Vicki B. Gaubeca at [email protected], by Wednesday COB.