One_liners

_SBCC steering committee member Joanna Williams of Kino Border Initiative questions CBP’s justification for delays in receiving asylum seekers at the Nogales port of entry.  

_SBCC ally John-Michael Torres of La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) was alarmed by the hundreds of children separated from their parents in McAllen, Tx.

_Turnbacks of asylum seekers are happening all across the Texas-Mexico border as noted by SBCC ally Astrid Dominguez of ACLU Border Rights Center.

_Read this story, which quotes yours truly, to learn what you can do to fight family separations at the border.

_SBCC steering committee member Pedro Rios of American Friends Service Committee has concerns about how San Diego Police Department rewrote their immigration policy in light of California’s Sanctuary State Law, SB 54.

Must_reads

_A double-headed snake. The House Queen of the Hill discharge petition, which would have forced four DACA-fix bills to the floor for a vote, fell short by two signatures and died this week (at least for now), but we are left to contend with a double-headed, extremely poisonous snake. Part of the reason the discharge petition failed was that House Speaker Ryan promised to introduce for a vote two bills that supposedly provide an immigration fix for DACA recipients: (1) the now infamous Goodlatte bill, which is opposed by even moderate Republicans and (2) a so-called compromise hammered out by Ryan between moderate and conservative Republicans, the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act. Both of these bills are border militarization bills that offer unclear and limited relief to Dreamers at the expense of other immigrants, families, and border communities. Trump has said he won’t sign the Ryan bill, favoring the even more draconian Goodlatte bill.

_Badlatte. That’s a better name for the Goodlatte bill, which offers $25 billion for border wall and military technologies, no path to citizenship for Dreamers, dramatic cuts to family immigration and asylum eligibility, indefinite jail time for immigrants already here_including possibly Dreamers and TPS holders_ and other god-awful provisions. No antidote exists for this venom.

_Fake compromise. The word “compromise” is a misleading term for the Ryan border militarization bill, which holds Dreamer protections hostage for border militarization money. It has the same $25 billion for border wall and military technologies as the Badlatte bill, but if DHS uses the money for something else, Dreamers automatically lose a path to citizenship (really? aargh). This bill also would jail children for a long period of time, halves asylum eligibility and makes it easier to send families back to their deaths, and speeds up deportation of children who came alone or were torn away from their parents to some of the most dangerous countries in the world.  Don’t be duped into believing the fake news around this bill. It will stop family separation by continuing to jail families together. This is not the answer. We should not jail anyone with a credible claim to asylum.

_Snake has another chance for a bite of the apple. The Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee will start its markup of the Fiscal Year 2019 DHS spending budget next Tuesday, June 19. 10 a.m. ET (although it may be postponed).  We’re betting it will include funds for bad border stuff. What the bill should include is money for body-worn cameras for all Border Patrol agents, for meaningful data collection and public reports on stops and apprehensions within the border zone, for rescue beacons with 9-1-1 relays to save the lives of migrants in distress, and for more internal affairs investigative agents to ensure that Border Patrol agents are held accountable when they commit abuse, to name a few. Not only would these alternative spending proposals be requiring best police practices of the largest law enforcement agency in the nation, but it also would be more aligned with American core values of justice and equality. Accountability and oversight of Border Patrol agents will make our communities feel safer.

_Say no to snake oil. Call your congressional members and tell them that both the Goodlatte and the Ryan militarization bills are harmful to border communities, they both beef up ICE and CBP, provide funds for a harmful wall, and will tear more families apart or jail more of them together. Every congressional member should oppose these non-solutions and instead work to defund Trump’s deportation machine, including ICE and CBP, which targets our communities every day. #RevitalizeNotMilitarize #KeepFamiliesTogether #LoveOurBorder

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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.

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