one_liners

_SBCC steering committee member Dulce Garcia of Border Angels in San Diego comments on the diminishing need for shelter space in Tijuana as some of the most vulnerable migrants are permitted to enter and seek safety in Southern California.

_SBCC colleague Joanna Williams of the Kino Border Initiative notes that the Administration’s decision to end the misnamed Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) acknowledges the cruelty and impracticality of this initiative, but adds that more needs to be done.

_Tune into this interview of immigrant rights colleague Karen Tumlin of the Justice Action Center, where she explains the SCOTUS decision on Temporary Protected Status on Twitter and Facebook.

_Watch ACLU’s moving video_which features ACLU plaintiffs and actors Karla Souza and Demián Bichir_that captures the life and death dangers of ICE detention during the pandemic, the victories won in the various ICE detention/COVID-19 lawsuits filed across California, and the way this all ties back to the need to end ICE detention as we know it today; share on Twitter and Facebook.

_Instead of proposing real and effective solutions, Governors Ducey (AZ) and Abbott (TX) are doing what they do best, “creating hysteria and feeding into harmful narratives about migrants & border communities.” (Quotes Yours Truly)

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must_reads

_Home is Here. Next Tuesday, June 15, represents the ninth anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that offers immigrant youth temporary authorization to live and work in their home communities. One out of five DACA eligible community members_a.k.a. “Dreamers”_ live in the Southern Border region and they/we are a part of the fabric of this country. If you’re in DC, please consider joining the celebration and United We Dream’s actions, including a press conference at the House of Representatives triangle at 10 a.m. Eastern, followed by a rally and march starting at Lafayette Plaza at noon Eastern. RSVP here. Also, consider signing UWD’s petition that calls on President Biden and Congress to lead and deliver citizenship now to people whose only home has been in the United States. Traditionally, the ninth anniversary is represented by pottery, which “represents home, hearth and family.” That sounds about right. The Senate Judiciary also will hold a full committee hearing, “H.R.6, American Dream and Promise Act of 2021,” in Room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building at 10 a.m. Eastern. The hearing will stream live here; on Twitter here; and on Facebook here. Happy ninth DACAversary! #HomeIsHere

_Great, except… Let’s get real. It’s great that Border Patrol agents are “extremely proud” of their life saving actions when they rescue migrants who are lost in remote regions of our borderlands. We’re truly grateful. Except for one thing. If you set a house on fire and then take credit for saving the lives of the people inside the house, you’re missing the big picture. What is needed is a deeper analysis. After almost three decades of deploying “prevention through deterrence” tactics, authorities need to recognize that these tactics have been successful in one way_creating desperation and the conditions in which people risk and lose their lives. More recently, Border Patrol ignores the effects of border closures and the continued use of Title 42 on migrant families. Take for example this Border Patrol release, where the agency pats itself on the back for “saving” a five-year-old Guatemalan girl without asking themselves why a parent would willingly put their child in danger. If you were a parent trying to keep your child safe from violence in your country of origin, fled to the United States to seek safety, encountered a policy of rapid expulsions at the border_that isn’t applied to children_and you were desperate to protect your child, wouldn't it make sense to send your kid across alone? Honestly, that takes a lot of courage. Please, let’s stop abdicating from our responsibility to create policies that protect families rather than put them between a rock and hard place. Another example of this shallow thinking was when Vice President Kamala Harris said in Guatemala, “Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border." We get the political motivation behind this statement. The Biden Administration doesn’t want to appear “weak” on immigration. Except, seeking asylum at the border is legal. People seeking safety are human beings that are forced to flee or watch their children die. We need to acknowledge this reality and the fact that U.S. policies contributed to these conditions. The best_and only way_to address this situation is through a humane, orderly path to safety. #WelcomeWithDignity

_Wall fall. We’re happy President Biden has halted the construction of Trump’s vanity border wall, but it’s not enough. Sections of the wall need to fall. Congress also needs to address the harms to our communities and environment caused by border wall construction. This is why we joined 90 organizations on this sign-on letter addressed to House and Senate Appropriations Commmittee’s chairs and ranking members, urging congressional appropriators to_in the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations_provide no new funding for border wall construction (including funding for a “virtual wall”), rescind unspent border wall appropriations from prior years, and end land seizures. The letter also urges Congress to provide resources to remediate the devastating harms that border wall construction and militarization have inflicted on communities and wildlife in the borderlands. In other news, the Government Accountability Office accepted a request from Rep. Raúl Grijalva (AZ-3), Chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, to conduct a full analysis of the cultural and environmental impacts of border wall construction. Mr. Grijalva, please accept our heartfelt thanks. To learn more about the harms caused by border wall construction in Arizona, tune in to “Broads at the Border: The Impact of Border Wall Construction” on Tuesday, June 22, at 5 pm (MDT), to hear about collective efforts to advocate for wall removal and the repair and restoration of damaged, fragile ecosystems. #RevitalizeNotMilitarize

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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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