Christian Ramírez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition has issued the following statement regarding President Trump's Inauguration.
Today, Donald Trump, who ran his campaign on hate-filled rhetoric and promises to build a wall in the Southern Border, became the 45th President of the United States of America. President Trump is now in a position to fulfill his reckless campaign promise to further militarize the borderlands and trample over the constitutional rights and quality of life of the more than 12 million people who live here.
Border residents are ready to take a stand. We reject this iron-fisted enforcement approach, and demand to be treated equally under the law. Right now, through a federal loophole, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are allowed to stop, interrogate, and search children on their way to school, parents on their way to work, and families going to doctor’s appointments or their places of worship. Not only do these actions erode the integrity of the U.S. Constitution, they jeopardize our communities and undermine public safety for all.
The Southern Border Communities Coalition urges the incoming Administration to:
- End federal “stop-and-frisk” by CBP agents by closing the loophole that allows them to detain and search people based on how they look.
- Limit CBP’s power to search people and their property by amending current law.
- Ban discriminatory profiling everywhere through legislation to prohibit profiling once and for all with limited exceptions for specific suspect descriptions.
We will continue to fight for a nation that is fair and just, and remain committed to ensuring that the rights and dignity of border residents and those who travel through our region are protected, and that our quality of life is preserved. Strengthening our cultural and economic vibrancy as a region will continue to be our top priority.
We will stand with all communities fearing violence and persecution and demand an end to militarization in our nation. Border communities are committed now more than ever to contribute to the growing movement for immigrant and refugee rights, police accountability, criminal justice reform, and economic justice.
Border communities will not be deterred from our struggle to implement accountability, transparency, and oversight mechanisms within CBP. We expect that the Trump Administration will consult with us and invest in our communities, families, students, infrastructure, and ports-of-entry, all of which strengthen our nation, drive our economy, and uphold our shared values of justice for all.
Our communities are resilient; we will continue to thrive and strengthen our resolve to revitalize, not militarize the borderlands.”
About SBCC
The Southern Border Communities Coalition brings together more than 60 organizations from San Diego, California, to Brownsville, Texas, to ensure that border enforcement policies and practices are accountable and fair, respect human dignity and human rights, and prevent the loss of life in the region. For more information, please visit www.southernborder.org.