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Border Action Calls on President Obama $600 Million Border Bill |
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Thursday, November 04 2010 14:50 |
Border Action Network condemns and calls on President Obama to veto H.R. 6080, passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on August 12, 2010. This $600 million bill aims to put more equipment and agents along the US-Mexico border including more unmanned surveillance drones, 1,000 more Border Patrol agents, 250 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and 250 more Customs and Border Protection officers.
"This bill is a politically expedient move crafted by legislators who are out of touch with the realities on the border," says Jennifer Allen, Executive Director of Border Action Network. "Recent studies show that border areas are among the safest in the country. Instead of focusing quality resources on real solutions to the problems wrought by failed border and immigration policies, this bill will only undermine our national security and alienate border communities."
The bill, having been approved by both the House and Senate, will now go to President Obama for his signature or veto. States Allen, "The President, as our nation's highest leader, should know that this is not what the border needs, nor what border communities want. We must focus not on the quantity of agents and equipment, but on reforming our broken immigration system and implementing effective border policy."
People and organizations along the US-Mexico border have long called for not only national immigration reform, but for humane border policy that allocates resources to actual threats in the region while protecting border residents.
Concludes Allen, "We urge President Obama to veto this bill, and we will continue to fight for effective border policies that consider the voices of border communities, and improve the quality of life and protect and uphold the civil rights of its residents."
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