PLEASE NOTE: Because of the Labor Day holiday, we will not be issuing Border_Lines next week.

one_liners

_Tune in at 5 p.m. PDT/ 8 p.m. EDT this evening (Sept. 25) to the “Save Asylum Prayer Gathering at the Border,” coordinated by our colleagues at Frontera de Cristo that will be both in-person in Agua Prieta, Sonora and Douglas, Arizona (masks and social distancing required) and online (here or here).

_SBCC steering committee member Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee reflects on his experience crossing the border from Israel to Gaza and how this compares to crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

_Check out this video titled “Defund ICE & CBP and Stop Reproductive Violence” from our partners at Defund Hate to learn about research and testimonials that show how Trump’s deportation force is waging reproductive violence against people in their custody, including against Black and Brown pregnant people using taxpayer dollars.

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must_reads

_Crying Wolf. Trump and his cronies have been crying wolf on immigration and the border for years, which is why we released this statement opposing the confirmation of Chad Wolf (pun intended) as Secretary of Homeland Security. Mr. Wolf_who has been serving unlawfully as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security_was in true form at his confirmation hearing in the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) this week, admitting he ignored the harms his agency has caused to border communities and the environment. In fact, he has been at the helm of the department as news of some of the most violent and cruel actions against immigrants and border communities have been revealed_including the separation of families, the dynamiting and desecration of sacred borderlands, the horrific disregard for health and safety of immigrants endangered by the pandemic in detention centers, and hysterectomies forced on Black and Brown women without their knowledge or consent. The extent of corruption and violence under his leadership has so infiltrated the ranks of the agency that we weren’t a bit surprised to learn from CBP whistleblowers that agency leadership knew they were breaking the law when blocking and sending back to Mexico people who were coming to our border seeking protection. Not surprising. Another gem that surfaced this week was that more than $6 million in Homeland Security contracts were awarded to his wife’s firm. Talk about feeding the wolves.

_”You don’t control the border.” Every week, courageous tribal members, advocates, and other border community members push back against Trump’s border wall_an undeniable monument to racism and a lethal campaign prop at taxpayer’s expense. Their courage is powerful, from South Texas, where landowners are pushing back against a tsunami of eminent domain cases brought by Trump’s administration (story quotes SBCC steering committee member Ricky Garza of Texas Civil Rights Project), to indigenous groups in Arizona_who are only trying to protect their sacred lands and a rare desert oasis_facing state violence, to the Kumeyaay defending themselves against officials who shut down their camp and arrested two men in Southern California. We will persist. And we won’t stand idle when the destruction against our borderlands is irreparable_such as the blasting we witnessed this week in Guadalupe Canyon in Southeastern Arizona. We want to thank Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for pushing Mr. Wolf during his confirmation hearing to explain why dynamite was blasted without first making an environmental assessment. We will persist. #DefundHate

_Border Lens. Did you know there are 20 million people who live in the Southern border region and they are younger and more diverse than the national average? Or that most people living in the southern border were born in the United States? Or that the immigrant community in the southern border are diverse and come from all parts of the world? Or that the region is made up of prized biological diversity, and that one-third of native terrestrial and freshwater animal species could be cut off by Trump’s vanity border wall? Check out these facts (and more!) at our new website portal, Border Lens. Our #BorderLens will help you see our #NewBorderVision.

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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. The Southern Border Communities Coalition is a program of Alliance San Diego.

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