BNHR to hold protest during presidential visit

COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAVE ACTION DURING PRESIDENTIAL VISIT

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.