The southern border region — home to about 15 million people — is a place of hope, encounter and opportunity. It is one of the most vibrant and diverse places in the country with deep cross-border ties from San Diego, CA to Brownsville, TX.
But instead of embracing our dynamic communities, for decades our border policies have cast aside human rights, criminalized migrants and engaged in deadly and unaccountable border enforcement, undermining public safety for all.
To this, we say ‘No more.’ It’s time for a New Border Vision that expands public safety, protects human rights, and welcomes people at our borders in a manner consistent with our national values and global best practices.
SBCC’s New Border Vision is a guiding light, a chance to move forward with common purpose to honor our moral and legal obligations to treat everyone with dignity and respect.
We invite you to explore a New Border Vision, and join us in our mission to create well-functioning borders for the 21st century.
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Voices from the border
“Border communities are naturally beautiful, culturally diverse and economically vibrant. We know our region better than anyone else, and we should have a say in the decision-making that impacts our lives.” - Vicki B. Gaubeca, director of SBCC
“We have a moral obligation to uphold the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people, regardless of where they come from. A New Border Vision recognizes and affirms that people who migrate are doing so in pursuit of these rights, and we must protect them, not criminalize them.” - Mark Adams, US coordinator for Frontera de Cristo, Arizona
“Migration is a fundamental part of our human experience. It’s a phenomenon as old as time, a source of prosperity, innovation, and a defining feature of our world. Migration should never be criminalized. We must recognize our common humanity and shared potential.” - Pedro Rios, director, US/Mexico Program, AFSC, California
“Our region is diverse, just like our nation. A New Border Vision recognizes that diversity is our strength and calls on us to strive for social cohesion and inclusion, and end the stigmatizing, xenophobic, racist, and alarmist messages that have become the hallmark of this administration. We as a nation are better than that and must aspire to treat everyone with dignity and respect.” - Christina Patiño Houle, network weaver, Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network, Texas
“Decades of enforcement-only border policies have jeopardized the public safety and rights of border communities. A New Border Vision turns the page to a new chapter in which border communities speak to what they want and need for everyone to feel safe and thrive.” - Johana Bencomo, Director of Community Organizing at New Mexico Comunidades en Acción y De Fé (NMCAFé), New Mexico