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

Southern Border — Today, SBCC sent a letter to Chairman Peters and Ranking Member Paul marking the one year since Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that the agency would eliminate Border Patrol Critical Incident Teams (BPCITs), which the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) exposed as the largest and longest standing cover up units in the federal government. Despite the announced elimination, which went into effect in October 2022, investigations of excessive force continue to be compromised. The public deserves to know if CBP, the largest law enforcement agency in the country, is enabling more cover ups and undermining the integrity of an agency that has yet to earn the trust of U.S. voters. Continue reading

Contacts:  Jeff Migliozzi, [email protected]  Jenny Garcia, [email protected] Bruna Sollod, [email protected]  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration is proposing almost $25 billion dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in its FY2024 budget proposal, an increase of $800 million over the enacted 2023 budget. The proposal includes a new $4.7 billion “contingency fund” for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), funding for an additional 350 Border Patrol Agents, and $535 million for border security technologies. Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER - This week, Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas announced updates to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Use of Force Policy. The Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) commends Secretary Mayorkas and the Biden Administration for their efforts to respond to the national outcry for use-of-force policy reform and improved accountability mechanisms. While the new policy is a step in the right direction, it falls short of meeting international human rights standards and does not do enough to protect human life, putting communities across the country and in the border region at risk.  Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER, Nov. 2, 2022 — Today, on Día de los Muertos, the Southern Border Communities Coalition is calling on the Biden administration and Congress to end policies that harden the U.S.-Mexico border and force an increasing number of people seeking safety to their deaths.  Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER, August 11, 2022 — The Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) sent a letter to Congress today to share new and alarming facts that could directly impact their investigation of unlawful Border Patrol’s Critical Incident Teams (BPCITs), that have operated as cover-up teams for more than three decades. Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER, July 21, 2022 — Today, the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at UC San Diego and the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) released the results of a nationally representative border-specific survey Voters Distrust Border Agency, Want More Oversight and Accountability conducted in July 2022.  Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER, July 12, 2022 — On July 8, 2022, CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility released a disappointing 500+ page report on their sham investigation into the abuse of Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas in September of 2021. Nearly ten months later, and with no interviews from victims or other Haitian migrants who witnessed the incident, the investigation concluded there was no evidence that Border Patrol agents struck any person with their reins intentionally nor did agents prevent migrants from seeking safety, which is the opposite of what the photos and agent testimonies showed and what witnesses told the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC). Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER, June 30, 2022 — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Biden v. Texas that allows the Biden Administration to rescind the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols. While the 5-4 ruling is a welcome outcome, there is still work to do to ensure due process for people seeking protection or refuge in the United States. There should be a universal standard for humanitarian treatment at our borders, without exceptions. The Remain in Mexico program forced people seeking safety at our southern border to wait in Mexico while their cases were pending, putting thousands of people at risk and in compromising positions.    Continue reading

SOUTHERN BORDER, June 28, 2022 — 53 people died in a speculated attempt to cross the US-Mexico border. The bodies of forty-six people believed to be migrants were found dead on Monday in and around an abandoned tractor-trailer near San Antonio Texas. Over a dozen others, including children, were taken to the hospital alive but suffering from apparent dehydration and heat exhaustion where another six died today and four lie in critical condition. Seeking asylum is a human right and legal form of entry under U.S. law. However, the current border expulsion policies of Title 42 and the “Remain in Mexico” program, both wielded by Trump before Biden, have effectively closed off the border. These policies follow decades of escalating border militarization and prevention through deterrence tactics that force migrants to take more dangerous, and often deadly, routes to seek refuge in the United States, resulting in these and countless other preventable deaths. In recent weeks alone, our communities have mourned the eleven Haitian migrants who lost their lives trying to reach Puerto Rico, nine migrants who drowned in El Paso irrigation canals in early June, and many others who lost their lives to drowning, dehydration, heat exposure and falling from the border wall. Continue reading