Media Contact: Tara Kaveh - [email protected] - Mobile/text: (415) 686-2692
SOUTHERN BORDER - Following weeks of closed-door negotiations, a small group of Senators yesterday released a supplemental spending bill that contains harmful immigration, asylum and border-related provisions that would gut our asylum system, give dangerous powers to current and future administrations to close our border to those seeking safety, and continues the deadly legacy of deterrence and border militarization.
The Southern Border Communities Coalition urges senators to vote “NO” on this dangerous bill. Congress must change course toward a dignifying welcoming immigration system that centers human rights and the protection of human life, and responds to border residents, migrants, merchants and visitors in an effective, efficient, and humane way. We need a new border vision.
Border communities are places of encounter and welcome, but for decades our region has borne witness and experienced the devastating impacts of militarization, deterrence and unchecked, heavy-handed enforcement. This supplemental’s provisions repeat this same approach. Attempting to “close the border” by denying humanitarian relief, gutting our asylum system, creating a new ‘metering’ system, building more border walls, lowering the hiring standards for border agents, and allowing deportation without due process will not create order. We know that adopting these policies will make the humanitarian crisis we face at the border much worse and will inflict serious harm.
There is no doubt we need real solutions to the challenges faced in the southern border region, but they must prioritize human lives and human rights. Funds are needed to ensure that newcomers can be processed efficiently and humanely. We need to ensure our ports of entry are able to screen and process migrants while remaining accessible to all travelers. We need an efficient system that protects human dignity and not politically motivated deals that threaten the rights of those who call the border region home and those seeking safety.
“Border communities know better than anyone that the policies contained in this bill to build more walls, expel or block those seeking protection, increase the number of border agents while lowering their hiring standards and detaining more people will lead to chaos, harm and death in our borderlands,” said Lilian Serrano, Director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition. “We need real solutions that protect human life and human rights.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN BORDER COMMUNITIES COALITION:
The Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) brings together 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.