SOUTHERN BORDER — The Biden administration has renewed the Trump-Era Title 42 policy, which allows border agents to expel migrants and people seeking safety—including their children—from the United States without a hearing before an immigration judge. This order reinforces the racist, dangerous narrative from Gov. Abbott and Trump cronies that asylum seekers are a threat and puts vulnerable asylum seekers at risk. The Biden administration must uphold our nation’s asylum laws that provide people seeking safety at our border access to the asylum process. Border communities and public safety experts (including a recent report by Physicians for Human Rights) have shown that the use of Title 42 to expel migrants under the guise of public safety is not only unjustified, but cruel and inhumane. Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER — This week the Biden administration unveiled a 21-point immigration plan and although the Biden administration had promised a more “fair, orderly, and humane” immigration system, the latest updates to the Biden administration’s plan doesn't just fall short, but perpetuates punitive rhetoric and a dangerous prevention through deterrence approach. Disturbingly, the Biden administration continues the use of inhumane Trump-era policies that erode access to asylum, like Title 42, and plans on expanding expedited removals to families, both of which arbitrarily give border agents the power to expel migrants and people seeking safety—including their children—from the United States without a hearing before an immigration judge, which invites due process violations that are anything but fair, orderly and humane. Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER — Last week when U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was created illegally, thousands of families in the southern border region again felt the uncertainty of living without permanent protections, overlapped with the fear of living in a highly militarized border zone where unaccountable border agents act with impunity. Continue reading

Washington, DC — The House Appropriations Committee this week proposed a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill for fiscal year 2022 that includes approximately $22 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Although this is a slight decrease from last year’s enacted funding levels, and we commend the inclusion of provisions that would ameliorate the punishing nature of immigration enforcement, the Defund Hate campaign is extremely disappointed by proposed funding levels for ICE detention and surveillance and technology at our borders. Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced S. 2103 The Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act, which, if passed, will allow individuals to sue federal law enforcement officers and agencies if they have experienced civil and constitutional rights violations. Continue reading

Defund Hate Campaign Response to President’s  FY22 Budget Request Washington, DC (Friday, May 28, 2021) — The Defund Hate campaign and immigrant rights groups who monitor technology surveillance programs expressed frustration after President Biden released a Fiscal Year 2022 budget request of $8.4 billion for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and $16.3 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The president’s budget contradicts his commitments to help communities rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic and pursue government policies that end racial inequities, and instead continues to direct billions of taxpayer dollars toward agencies and private prison corporations which have a nearly 20-year pattern of fiscal mismanagement, separating families, and violating people’s civil and human rights. Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER — President Biden’s address to a joint session Congress reiterated the good and bad policy points when it comes to immigration and the border. President Biden shared his stance on immigration reform and how The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 is a bold, inclusive, and humane framework to rethink immigration policy. This is an important first step to bring us together as a country and move us forward to enact much needed reform, however, Biden’s provisions on “high-tech border security” are not a step in the right direction. Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER — Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) introduced a bill on Thursday, April 22, that would undermine access to fair asylum processes at the southern border. Representatives Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) introduced a sister bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives on Thursday as well.  Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER — In March 2021, the Southern Border Communities Coalition celebrates ten years of border rights advocacy. Formed in March 2011, the Southern Border Communities Coalition brings together 60 organizations across the southern borderlands, from San Diego, CA to Brownsville, TX.  Southern border communities are dynamic places full of hope and opportunity, but for decades border policies have cast aside human rights, criminalized migrants and focused on deadly and unaccountable border enforcement. Border communities have been harmed by these policies, adversely impacting our residents’ and visitors' human rights, local and regional economies, the environment and cross-border ties.  Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER — It’s been one year since the Trump Administration began misusing Title 42 to block and expel people seeking safety at our southern border. This harmful, and possibly illegal, use of Title 42 continues to this day under the Biden Administration, with no basis as to the efficacy of its implementation in keeping people safe. Continue reading