New Investigative Report Reveals Disturbing Connections Between Outside Organizations and the Nation’s Largest Immigration Enforcement Unions

Washington DC—On a press call today, representatives from the Center for a New Community (CNC), along with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Southern Borders Communities Coalition (SBCC) gathered to discuss the findings of a new report revealing a systemic pattern of behind-the-scenes collusion between the enforcement unions and the leaders of some of the most prominent anti-immigrant hate groups.

The newly released report details the collusion between extreme anti-immigrant leaders, heads of enforcement unions, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials—a link which functions to inject negative biases into the broad immigration debate. To read the report, “Blurring Borders: Collusion between Anti-Immigrant Groups and Immigration Enforcement Agents”, click here.

Mark Potok, Senior Fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center said, “The collusion between officers enforcing our immigration laws and the same bigoted nativist groups that killed immigration reform in 2007 is both shocking and an affront to our democratic system. Do we really want police, who are charged with carrying out policies set by our elected representatives, deciding which policies they like and which they don’t? Do we really want leaders of the unions representing Border Patrol and ICE officers taking their cues from organizations that are seeking 'a European-American majority, and a clear one at that’? Unions representing law enforcement officers have every right to negotiate the conditions of work for their members, but they should have no role in dictating policies affecting the general public."

Added Anu Joshi, Campaign Manager for the Center for New Community, "The concrete examples of collusion between leaders in the ICE and Border Patrol unions and the organized anti-immigrant network demonstrated in our report, including the leaking of information about the transportation of children and families in Murrieta one year ago, is deeply troubling because it fundamentally calls into question the ability of some to uphold their responsibility as stewards of the country’s immigration system. These union leaders, by working with these extremists, are lending an undeserved credibility to the organized anti-immigrant movement and, dangerously, assisting its efforts to advocate for policies that malign immigrant communities and obstruct future immigration. We call on Congress and the administration to put a stop to this collusion."

Southern Borders Communities Coalition’s Reverend Dr. Randy Mayer, Lead Minister at the Good Shepherd United Church of Christ concluded, “As a pastor and activist living and working along the borderlands with humanitarian groups over the last 17 years, I have had a number of disturbing encounters with organized anti-immigration groups along the U.S.-Mexico Border.  Our humanitarian groups have had verbal encounters, water stations destroyed, notes and graffiti left at sites and on vehicles, humanitarian groups followed in the desert, as well as anti-immigrant folks sitting out front of people’s houses—all done to intimidate and harass.   With this sort of irresponsible and reckless behavior by organized anti-immigration groups, it is incredibly troubling to hear that our nation’s largest law enforcement agency, the Border Patrol, would be engaged in any sort of collaboration with these groups.  It is critically important that the Border Patrol become professional and transparent in their relationships with the organized anti-immigration groups. Until that occurs the community’s trust has been broken.”

Click here to listen to a recording of today’s call.