one_liners

_Please consider joining this virtual vigil on Saturday, Oct. 10, starting at 6 p.m. PDT / 9 p.m. EDT as family and friends continue to call for justice in the brutal killing by a Border Patrol agent of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez (¡presente!), which took place eight years ago.

_For the second time in three months, Border Patrol agents despicably blazed through a No More Deaths humanitarian aid camp in Arizona with armored tanks, ATVs, a helicopter and unmarked vehicles in complete and shameful disregard for international humanitarian law and the wellbeing of migrants receiving care, “an extension of what [the Border Patrol] do to migrants in the desert every day”

_SBCC ally Astrid Dominguez of the ACLU Border Rights Center noted that it has been long overdue to equip border enforcement agents with body-worn cameras as a tool for accountability in excessive use-of-force deaths; and advocated that CBP include NGOs in developing policies on their use, including creating strong privacy protections.

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must_reads

_Has no mother. In Spanish, when you say that someone “has no mother” (no tiene madre) it means a person does not have scruples of any kind to do something harmful to someone else. That seems to be the perfect description of Attorney General Jeff Session and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, when they showed their absolute absence of any scruples in calling for the ripping away of children_including infants_from the arms of their parents so that the Department of Justice could prosecute these parents for improper entry and re-entry into the United States. In addition to noting the Trump administration’s callous disregard and violence against parents and children who only sought protection from violence, the statutes they used to prosecute parents_for what should really be only a civil offense_have their origin in white supremacy and racist anti-immigrant policies. C’mon, can’t we be better than this? Or, what, ¿No tenemos madre?

_Excuses, harmful excuses. It’s clear that the Trump administration relies on falsehoods and excuses to implement its anti-immigrant and border militarization agenda, from the fake emergency declaration that was used to pilfer Pentagon funds to build Trump’s lethal border wall to the push to shut down our borders courtesy of Vice President Pence_against CDC’s advice_ under the pretense of protecting public health. This latter claim was made even more preposterous by Trump’s blatant disregard for the health of White House staff by refusing to isolate, wear a mask, or engage in social distancing even when it was clear that the White House had become a ‘superspreader’ site. Public health specialists said that border closure would do nothing to stem the spread of COVID-19, but what’s even more concerning is the fact that the United States has now completely denied due process to more than 150,000 people_including 9,000 children_ stranded in Mexico who are seeking protections from violence under U.S. and international asylum laws. We need grown-ups_with scruples_in the room.

_Border, border on the wall. It’s been gut-wrenching and devastating to witness the destruction of our beloved borderlands and the threats to our treasured endangered species brought to you courtesy of a narcissistic campaign prop. To see some of the irreparable damage at the border_happening as you read_ see this new drone footage shot this week by our colleagues at the Center for Biological Diversity at the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. To top off the horror, communities along our border region are in dire need of funding for healthcare, education and other resources, but what does Trump do? He wants to waste further billions on his vanity wall by painting it black_costing taxpayers at least an additional $1 million per mile. Please contact your congressional reps and senators and ask them to stop this madness. If you’re in Southern Arizona, please consider joining a border wall rally, Friday, Oct. 9, 5 to 8 p.m. Pacific at Armory Park, Tucson, coordinated by the O’odham Anti Border Collective and Defend O’odham Jewed. If you aren’t in Southern Arizona, please consider amplifying the work of O’odham advocates pushing back on wall construction in their ancestral lands and allies via social media! We’re looking forward to tearing this wall down, knowing that some of the harms will be irreparable. Border, border on the Wall, who is the cruelest wall of all? #TearDownTheWall

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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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