|  | | | | Dear Friend, The recent presidential candidate debate left little hope that the demonization of immigrants would recede as an election ploy. Donald Trump’s lie-filled demagoguery dominated the stage without any strong pushback from President Biden – on immigration and most other issues. All the more important to rally immigrant communities, supporters and allies to work at multiple levels in defense of rights and justice. The consequence of a Trump victory in the November election are almost too horrific to imagine: his promise for mass deportations is not just campaign rhetoric; we know that as president he would mobilize political support and all the mechanisms of government to further traumatize immigrant communities, pursue deportations and stifle access to immigration pathways. In our report from the Borderlands, NNIRR recaps challenges in the region and in other states, where “copycat” proposals abound. Biden’s executive order limiting asylum access will only exacerbate, not resolve, the human rights crisis for migrants. |
| | | ON THE BORDERLANDS TEXAS It's a presidential election year. Red states, with Texas at the forefront, are ramping up attacks on immigrants to fuel racist and fear-driven narratives, sow divisions and rally conservative voters. Texas' anti-immigrant policy "Operation Lone Star" -- that Gov. Abbott has promoted in Texas over the last several years – morphed into SB4, passed at a special Texas legislative session last November. It is one of the most extreme anti-immigrant state-level legislation enacted in recent years, significantly escalating state-driven immigration enforcement. SB4 allows local law enforcement to detain and jail people suspected of entering the U.S. without authorization – punishable by up to six months in jail. Repeat offenders may be charged with a second-degree felony, punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison. It also empowers state judges to issue deportation orders. The bill was legally challenged as unconstitutional as it usurps the federal government’s role in immigration enforcement. While the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Texas could temporarily start to enforce SB4 while being challenged, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Texas’ request to allow SB4 to go into effect while being challenged in court, a major win for immigrants’ rights. The bill’s status remains in limbo while legal challenges have continued. SAN DIEGO  Photo source: Pedro Rios, AFSC In San Diego, Border Patrol agents continue to hold migrants seeking asylum –including children – in open-air detention sites without abiding by Custom and Border Protection national standards. In some instances, migrants who have been injured from border wall falls have had to wait for hours at these locations without appropriate medical care. In April, a 24-year-old pregnant woman from Jamaica broke an ankle from a border wall fall, waiting nearly three hours for the Border Patrol to call emergency services. Injuries from border wall falls have increased five-fold in San Diego. Migrants have to contend with life-altering injuries that they will likely suffer from for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile, humanitarian aid workers are feeding and tending to people seeking asylum with few resources. They also are documenting how long people seeking asylum are forced to wait under appalling conditions. Based on documentation gathered and submitted by volunteers, a judge was persuaded to declare that children in open-air detention sites are under Border Patrol custody and should be protected under the Flores Settlement Agreement guidelines. |
| | ARIZONA  Photo: Photo: Gabriel Cuén Buitimea As the busiest border corridor for migrant crossings bounces back and forth among Arizona/Sonora, San Diego, CA and South Texas, so do where the sites of border deaths, and where the highest number of the migrant killings with impunity is taking place. In April of 2023, George Alan Kelly, a 75 year-old rancher shot into a group of migrants walking across his ranch. He killed Gabriel Cuen Buitimea, a father and family man, traveling to Phoenix from Sonora to work. “Despite a witness account of the shooting, as well as Mr. Kelly’s own racist writings and texts about migrants, and a statement where he admits that there was ‘an animal’ that was probably dead – refusing to acknowledge Mr. Cuen’s humanity– Mr. Kelly was acquitted by hung jury, a common outcome along the border in cases like these, when not outright acquitted,” stated Isabel Garcia of Coalicion de Derechos Humanos. Seven jurors voted for acquittal with one lone juror voting to convict. As the trial proceeded, the Arizona State Legislature passed a bill to legalize the shooting of people crossing large ranches, but it was vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs. At the same time, the Arizona/Sonora border has been described as a “dire humanitarian medical crisis” by the well-regarded Doctors Without Borders, based on the large numbers of men, women, and children facing harsh weather – both the heat and the cold – in areas that are far from any assistance. “Their reporting confirms that without volunteers from humanitarian groups helping at the wall east of Sásabe during the winter, we would have had deaths, because the BP does not provide transportation nor assistance,” Garcia said. On May 8, 2024, the Arizona Governor vetoed a Republican-passed law to create a Texas-style scheme to arrest people for unlawful entry. The legislature also approved a measure to place the failed bill on the 2024 ballot for the public to vote up or down. “The GOP-controlled legislature is placing this on the ballot so that they can continue to drum up hatred and lies to win elections, once again refusing to address the major issues facing our State and the nation,” stated State Rep. Betty Villegas. “Unless it is stopped by the Courts, Proposition 314, would not only terrorize and criminalize our communities, but falsely link migrants to the fentanyl crisis fueled by the Sackler opioid- trafficking family,” Garcia added. |
| | SB4 Copycat Bills in Southern states Anti-immigrant rhetoric and inhumane policies have repercussions in other states, as legislators and governors in Southern states are also exploiting the false narrative of a border “invasion” to attack the rights of immigrants. Citing the tragic death of student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus, Georgia legislators are claiming that they, too, are border states being invaded by criminal aliens. Like Texas' SB4 and Florida´s 2023 and 2024 anti-immigrant bills, Tennessee and Georgia recently passed anti-immigrant laws during their legislative sessions. North Carolina, Louisiana and Alabama are also considering their own anti-immigrant legislation. Measures passed or are being considered include increasing penalties for those charged with a crime who are undocumented or have been previously deported and for driving without a license. Other laws or proposals include prohibiting the issuance of local IDs, and mandating local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws. In addition, several states in the South have either committed to sending National Guard to “defend” the border and/or supporting Texas as it fights with the courts to enforce SB4. |
| | | | Responses to the Presidential Debate “The Presidential debate was hard to watch, both for Biden's poor performance and Trump's lies, lies & more lies. Trump's main approach was to: 1) avoid answering questions while baselessly asserting he was the greatest president ever; and 2) bash migrants and immigrants at every opportunity no matter what question was being asked. His response to most questions was simply to repeat his anti-migrant, xenophobic and racist rant that migrants are terrorist, criminals from Middle East and all over, rapists, mentally ill, killing citizens at a level “we've never seen before”; living in luxury hotels; and taking jobs from African Americans. While Biden clearly stumbled, Trump's 'performance' confirmed that he is a threat to immigrants, border communities, and people of color, and has utter disdain for democracy itself.” – Lillian Galedo, NNIRR board “As a border resident, it was extremely difficult to hear Trump’s most outrageous lies about immigrants since the Congressional debates of the 1920’s. With absolutely no factual rebuttal from Pres. Biden - nor the debate hosts - Trump was allowed to further stigmatize refugees fleeing the very consequences of U.S. foreign and economic policies in their home countries. At one point Pres. Biden began to acknowledge the contributions of immigrants to our economy, only to be sidelined. He should have stated forcefully that immigrants are a structural component of our economy and always have been - a fact recognized by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in an editorial following the debate. Our work to bring forth the truth about immigration and borders remains." – Isabel Garcia, Coalición de Derechos Humanos |
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| | | Your contributions support NNIRR to: - advocate for immigration policy that centers human rights
- lift up grassroots leadership, organizing and advocacy
- spotlight border human rights organizing at the US-Mexico border
- advocate for international migrant rights & human rights at borders
- organize at the intersections, including climate justice and migrant rights
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