Bring Attention to Short-Sighted Border Enforcement Policies

El Paso, TX –On the occasion of the President’s visit to Fort Bliss Tuesday, more than 100 community members will be protesting the President’s border policy.

The Border Network for Human Rights wishes to release the following statement, attributable to the group’s executive director, Fernando Garcia:

“President Obama promised change. The soldiers at Fort Bliss coming back from Iraq are seeing change under the Obama Administration. However, border communities are faced with the same misguided enforcement policies as ever, which include militarization, enforcement without oversight, violation of rights, and fiscal irresponsibility.

Our communities are peaceful –El Paso is the second safest city of its size in the nation and its residents feel safe (See independent poll attached). Why send the National Guard here?

We respectfully ask President Obama to stop playing politics with our lives, to stop pandering to extremist groups that distort the reality of the border and to introduce real change in his administration’s approach to border enforcement. We also ask the president to push for comprehensive immigration reform. Only then will we have humane, responsible and efficient border policies.”

Where: Airway Boulevard, between Montana and Boeing (Across from the Marriott)

When: 11 a.m. Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Who: More than 100 community members with signs

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More information on the Border Network for Human Rights: This organization, founded in 1998, is one of the leading immigration reform and human rights advocacy organization in the United States. Based in El Paso, the BNHR counts about 4,000 members in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. More information at www.bnhr.org.

The Border Network for Human Rights’ Third Annual Award Dinner is Friday

El Paso, TX – The Border Network for Human Rights, a 12-year-old community organizing group with about 4,000 members in El Paso and Southern New Mexico, will have its third annual Human Rights Award Dinner this Friday. El Paso County Commissioner Veronica Escobar will receive the award.

The annual award dinner is meant to celebrate those who work tirelessly to advocate for human rights on the border. This year, El Paso County Commissioner Veronica Escobar will receive the BNHR Safe Communities Award, for her long commitment to promote equality before the law for all El Pasoans and for her strong stand against prejudice, racism and xenophobia.

Margaret Huang, the Executive Director of the DC-Based Rights Working Group (RWG), will receive the BNHR Advocacy Award. The RWG is the leading national organization that works on improving the treatment of immigrants in the United States. Ms. Huang and the RWG Team have challenged ill-conceived immigration policies that violate the civil and human rights of immigrant families.

The BNHR Visionary Award will be given to the U.S. Human Rights Fund, a foundation that has fully committed its resource to community projects and to efforts that protect, promote and embrace human rights in the United States.

The defense of human rights is crucial to build the values-based society we hope to see. The event is open to the public.

What: Third Annual Human Rights Award Dinner

When: 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, August 20, 2010

Where: St Pius, 1007 Geronimo

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More information on the Border Network for Human Rights: This organization, founded in 1998, is one of the leading immigration reform and human rights advocacy organization in the United States. Based in El Paso, the BNHR counts about 4,000 members in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. More information at www.bnhr.org.

StoryCorps Historias is a project that records Latinos’ stories around the United States. The recordings are archived at the Library of Congress as cultural and historical documents and exerpts can be heard on National Public Radio and Latino USA. A StoryCorps team is in El Paso today and tomorrow, recording the life stories of Border Network for Human Rights members.

Contact:

August 12, 2010

COMMUNITY MEMBERS PROTEST BORDER SECURITY CONFERENCE

‘Security Without Community is Not Security’

El Paso, TX –Fifty community members from El Paso and Southern New Mexico stood outside the Seventh Annual Border Security Conference at UTEP, protesting the event where community groups are not represented. The protesters stood silently with signs that read, “What about… civil rights?” “What about… community input?” “What about the environment?” “What about detention standards?” “What about… migrant deaths.”

The Border Network for Human Rights wishes to release the following statement, attributable to the group’s executive director, Fernando Garcia:

“This event is now in its seventh year and the organizers have never extended an invitation to community organizations to participate. We cannot help but feel that the opinions of border residents are not valued when it comes to an issue that is so important to them. We believe that border communities have an important role to play in their own security and should be consulted. We also believe that border enforcement should be accountable to communities. It is very disappointing that the organizers of this conference do not feel that way.”

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More information on the Border Network for Human Rights: This organization, founded in 1998, is one of the leading immigration reform and human rights advocacy organization in the United States. Based in El Paso, the BNHR counts about 4,000 members in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. More information at www.bnhr.org.

You can read the media coverage of the Border Network for Human Rights press conferences about the border security poll at the following links:

American Chronicle

Blue Virginia

Change.org

Daily Kos

El Diario de El Paso

El Paso Times

Immigration Impact

KENS

KTSM

Latina Lista

New America Media

Reuters

Texas Tribune

Washington Independent

The Woodrow Wilson Mexico Institute

For Immediate Release                              Contact:  Katherine Vargas (National), (202) 641-5198

August 10, 2010                                                                      Louie Gilot (Texas), (915) 274-0541

NEW POLL SHOWS BORDER RESIDENTS FEEL SAFE

El Paso Group Orders First Opinion Poll of Border Residents on Safety

El Paso, TX – The findings of the first independent public opinion poll of residents along in border cities in California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico show that residents feel their border communities are as safe as most communities in the nation. The release of the report comes on the heels of the House of Representatives passage of a $600 million in supplemental funding for border enforcement (HR 6080) calling for more money and agents to the Southern border.  The poll results confirm the disconnect between the widespread perception of chaos at the border and the less dramatic picture of reality of border life.

According to the poll, commissioned by the Border Network for Human Rights, a community organization in El Paso, Texas, and conducted by the Reuel Group, 86.5% of border residents said they feel safe walking or driving in their neighborhood during their regular daily activities. Almost 70% said they felt their border neighborhood was as safe as most U.S. neighborhoods and 67% said they felt safe living in their border community.

“Politicians creating border policies need to talk to the people who actually live at the border instead of listening to pundits and opportunistic politicians set to score political points by fanning the perception that the border is out of control,” added Fernando García, Executive Director, Border Network for Human Rights.  “It is time to rethink our border policy by increasing the quality and accountability of border enforcement, not the quantity of armed agents and soldiers on our southern border.”

“In law enforcement, there are two things we look at. One is the crime rate and the other is the fear of crime. Because it doesn’t help to have a low crime rate, which we do, if people are afraid of going outside,” said El Paso Sheriff Richard Wiles. “What we see in our community is that people are concerned with graffiti and stray dogs. All the issues of urban areas. Extreme violence is just not happening here and we need to revisit how resources are expanded on the border. That’s a message to send the administration.”

“Heated rhetoric on border violence has escalated fear but ignores the reality on the ground. This has prevented politicians from addressing the real problems in the broken immigration system,” said Arizona State Representative Kyrsten Sinema. “We need a comprehensive solution to border security and immigration. Our broken system is a national crisis that requires strong and relentless presidential leadership and bold action from Congress. Our country, including my state of Arizona, desperately needs an immigration system that works.

“Political rhetoric and not reality is what’s driving the national debate over border security. Members of Congress want to pass yet another enforcement bill so they can look “tough” on border enforcement but the reality is that we will never have a secure border as long as we have politicians who seek political points with calls for “securing the border” while avoiding the hard work of reforming our immigration system,” added Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum. The federal government has dedicated unprecedented resources to the Mexican border and progress has been made to secure our border.  However, without fixing the immigration system, more resources on the border bring diminishing returns at best, a complete waste of tax dollars at worst.”

The poll was conducted on 1,222 border residents in three Arizona border cities (Douglas, Nogales and Yuma), two California border cities (El Centro and San Diego), Las Cruces, New Mexico, and four Texas border cities (Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo and McAllen) in mid-July.

For an electronic copy of the poll, please visit: http://bit.ly/borderresults

For a report on the poll results with policy recommendations: http://bit.ly/BorderReport

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More information on the Border Network for Human Rights: This organization, founded in 1998, is one of the leading immigration reform and human rights advocacy organization in the United States. Based in El Paso, the BNHR counts about 4,000 members in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. More information at www.bnhr.org.

For Planning Purposes Only                                      Contact: Katherine Vargas (National)

Friday, August 6^th, 2010                                                           (202) 641-5198

Louie Gilot (Texas)

(915) 274-0541

**TELEPHONIC PRESS CONFERENCE

TUESDAY 8/10 AT 1:30 P.M. ET/11:30 A.M. MT

1-800-895-1085, PASSWORD: 7BORDER**

NEW INDEPENDENT POLL: BORDER RESIDENTS FEEL SAFE

El Paso Group Orders First Opinion Poll of Border Residents on Safety

El Paso, TX – The current political rhetoric about security at the U.S. Mexico border paints a chaotic situation at the border. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer spoke of “murder, terror and mayhem” on the border and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) justified deploying the National Guard to “secure our border and allow (our citizens) to lead lives where they not live in fear.”

Yet statistics tell a different story. Government statistics clearly show the border is one of the safest areas in the nation and that violence and crime on the U.S. border with Mexico are generally on the decline.

But what do people who live there think? The Border Network for Human Rights decided to find out by commissioning the first opinion poll of border residents from San Diego to Brownsville, asking them: Do you feel safe living on the border? The results of the poll will be released at a telephonic press conference on Tuesday, August 10.

The poll was conducted by El Paso polling firm Reuel Group. The poll of 1,222 border residents conducted in three Arizona border cities (Douglas, Nogales and Yuma), two California border cities (El Centro and San Diego), Las Cruces, New Mexico, and four Texas border cities (Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo and McAllen) .

WHAT: Telephonic Press Conference Releasing New Opinion Poll of Border Residents on Safety

WHEN: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. ET, 11:30 a.m. MT

WHO: Arizona State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema

El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles

Russell Autry, Pollster, Reuel Group

Fernando García, Executive Director, Border Network for Human Rights

HOW: Dial 1-800-895-1085 or 785-424-1055 for cell phone users. Passcode: 7BRIEF

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When: 10 a.m. Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Where: Sky Lounge, 17^th Floor, Double Tree Hotel,

600 N. El Paso Street, Downtown El Paso

On hand: Sheriff Wiles, Former County Attorney Jose Rodriguez, and other notable El Pasoans

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POLL: BORDER RESIDENTS FEEL SAFE

El Paso group orders first independent poll of border residents on safety

El Paso, TX – If you were to believe the political rhetoric about the security situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, you’d probably never want to live there. It’s regularly described as a lawless war zone, not a place where regular people go to work and raise families. Recently, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer spoke of “murder, terror and mayhem” on the border and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wanted to send more National Guardsmen to “secure our border and allow (our citizens) to lead lives where they not live in fear. ”

This negative and fearful vision of the border has led to punitive policies of strict enforcement and militarization that don’t reflect the reality of border life and the needs of its inhabitants. Statistics clearly show the border to be one of the safest areas in the nation, one without an increase in crime for several years.

But what do people who live there think? The Border Network for Human Rights decided to find out by commissioning the first opinion poll of border residents from San Diego to Brownsville, asking them: Do you feel safe living on the border?

The poll was conducted by the reputed El Paso polling firm Reuel Group, which conducts public opinion polls for political races and news outlets. Pollsters used  standard statistical methods to select a sample of 1,222 border residents in three Arizona border cities (Douglas, Nogales and Yuma), two California border cities (El Centro and San Diego), Las Cruces, New Mexico, and four Texas border cities (Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo and McAllen). The margin of error was plus or minus 2.9 percent.

The Border Network for Human Rights will release the poll’s results Tuesday (See details of press conference above).

Contact: Louie Gilot, Policy Director, Border Network for Human Rights, (915) 274-0541, lgilot@bnhr.org

More information on the Border Network for Human Rights: This organization, founded in 1998, is one of the leading immigration reform and human rights advocacy organization in the United States. Based in El Paso, the BNHR counts about 4,000 members in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. More information at www.bnhr.org.

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative Reyes,

On August 1, 2010, hundreds of National Guard troops will arrive on the border as ordered by President Obama to work with the Border Patrol in our communities. As a group that represents thousands of border residents in El Paso and Southern New Mexico, the Border Network for Human Rights wants to convey its unambiguous opposition to this deployment and ask for your help in stopping further militarization of the border.

We believe that proposals to deploy the National Guard are ill-conceived, ineffective and dangerous to the lives of border residents. National Guard deployments have in the past been limited to emergency situations but there is no emergency situation on the U.S. side of the southern border. Statistics show clearly that the border is one of the safest areas of the country, one in which the crime rate hasn’t increased in several years. As you know, El Paso continues to be the second safest city of its size in the United States. The administration is well aware of this reality and has said publicly that the border is more secure than it has ever been.

But the ongoing militarization of the border is not benign for those who live here. Our safety is being sacrificed by those who believe that soldiers trained for war belong near family neighborhoods or should be involved in supporting domestic law enforcement. Let’s not forget that in 1997, U.S. Marines sent to help secure the border, mistakenly shot and killed a teenage U.S. citizen who was peacefully herding goats. The National Guard was not designed as a national police force, nor should it be used as such.

Some politicians have an interest in portraying the border as a war zone in need of military intervention but our communities and the taxpayer can hardly afford this expensive and ineffectual approach. In conclusion, it is time to rethink our border policy by increasing the quality and accountability of border enforcement, not the quantity of armed agents and soldiers on our southern border.

As the representative of a border district, we know that you understand the federal government’s responsibility to protect the lives and well being of border residents as it is to protect residents of the interior of the United States. We urge you to lead the fight to pursue real solutions to border enforcement that take into account the needs of the border region.

Sincerely,

Fernando Garcia, Executive Director, Border Network for Human Rights

More information on the Border Network for Human Rights: This organization, founded in 1998, is one of the leading immigration reform and human rights advocacy organization in the United States. Based in El Paso, the BNHR counts about 4,000 members in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. Visit us at www.bnhr.org.