FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, November 16, 2023 Media Contacts: Mallory Adamski, [email protected], Mobile/text: (619) 571-1610 Felipe Morales, [email protected], Mobile/text: +52-555431-0851   U.N. Special Rapporteur on Racism Calls Out Discriminatory, Abusive, and Unaccountable Law Enforcement in the U.S., Echoing Testimony and Reports of the Dignity Delegation    This marks the third UN body in 3 months calling on the U.S. to end racial profiling, change its use of force standard for law enforcement, and end impunity to conform to international treaties.  SOUTHERN BORDER – Representatives of the Dignity Delegation lauded the release of a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism that bears witness to discriminatory, abusive and unaccountable law enforcement in the United States. The report follows a country visit this month by Special Rapporteur Ashwini K.P., who met with government officials and civil society, including members of the Dignity Delegation, who shared their lived experience and reports prepared by Alliance San Diego, Southern Border Communities Coalition, and the Berkeley International Human Rights Law Clinic. Continue reading

Dignity Delegation calls for accountability for rights violations and calls for changes to federal and state laws GENEVA, Switzerland — Today, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) issued its concluding observations after reviewing the United States' compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty signed and ratified by the U.S. more than thirty years ago. Across multiple issues, the HRC concluded that the U.S. is not in compliance and raised particular concerns about racial profiling, excessive force, and impunity by U.S. law enforcement. Continue reading

Southern Border —  Today on Día de los Muertos, the Southern Border Communities Coalition remembers the more than 280 lives lost by fatal encounters with U.S. border agents including the 20 lives lost in 2023 alone. As we remember the victims of the culture of violence and impunity within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), we denounce the increase of use of force incidents resulting from the biggest law enforcement agency in the country. Continue reading

Southern Border — Despite President Biden’s statement today regarding the use of waiver authority to build more border wall, the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) maintains its position that border communities have the human right to equal protection under the law. Yesterday, the Biden administration announced that it will waive 26 federal public health, environmental and cultural preservation laws to expedite border wall construction in Starr County, Texas. The use of this waiver authority to ignore federal, state, environmental and tribal laws to enable border wall construction has created devastating harm.  Continue reading

For Immediate Release Friday, September 15, 2023 Contact: Jenny Garcia, Detention Watch Network, [email protected] Washington, DC — Today, advocates gathered in 15+ cities, including in Washington, DC as part of a national day of action demanding the Biden administration shut down all detention centers, release all people in detention, and end deportations. Partners in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia region used this opportunity to call on President Biden to shut down the ICA operated Farmville detention center, one of two remaining detention centers in Virginia, whose contract was set to expire on the same day. Continue reading

As part of the settlement in Sierra Club v. Biden (formerly Sierra Club v. Trump), the U.S. government agrees to halt further wall construction and mitigate environmental damage in the sites illegally funded by the Trump administration using stolen Defense Department funding. OAKLAND, Calif. — Under a legal settlement filed in federal court today, the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Sierra Club, ACLU of Texas, and ACLU of Northern California, have successfully settled two long-running lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s illegal transfer of military construction and Treasury Department forfeiture funds to build sections of the U.S.-Mexico border wall that Congress explicitly refused to fund.  Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER — Today, the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at the University of California San Diego released a new report, Lives in Danger: Seeking Asylum Against the Backdrop of Increased Border Enforcement. The report details the results of a survey of migrants held by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in open-air detention sites for up to five days in Jacumba, California.  Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER — After witnessing egregious human rights violations, the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) has filed a damning complaint with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL). The complaint alleges that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is detaining migrants in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions in an open-air corridor in California.  Continue reading

Southern Border — The Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) is alerting the public to egregious human rights violations by U.S. border agents. Currently, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are holding hundreds of migrants in deplorable conditions on U.S. soil between layers of the border wall in San Diego, California near the San Ysidro Port of Entry. The U.S. border wall with Mexico in San Diego is composed of two layers, a primary and secondary border wall. Both the primary and secondary border walls, and the areas in between them, are part of the United States. The migrants in that corridor are in CBP custody. Continue reading

Southern Border — In the midst of government actions that dehumanize migrants and violate international treaty obligations, the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) calls on all parts of the government to start with dignity in the treatment of migrants. Rather than humanize migrants, government officials are penalizing them for asserting their inalienable (human) rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s time for a reset on border policy. It’s time to refocus on human dignity.  Continue reading