Border Patrol is blocking Bahamian people from entering the U.S., and the Boy Scouts are enabling them. Tell the leaders of the Boy Scouts to cut all ties with Border Patrol!
John,
Hurricane Dorian has caused massive damage in the Bahamas. But when Bahamian people attempted to enter the U.S. to seek refuge, Border Patrol sent them back. This is particularly egregious; Bahamian people are looking to come to the U.S. so they can be safe and access the supplies they need to live. But Donald Trump won’t allow it. He claims that the Bahamas are full of ‘very bad gang members,’ and other coded racist language to justify restricting Bahamian people’s access.1 It is unjust that our country’s leaders have instructed Border Patrol to turn Bahamian people away.
While the Trump Administration and Border Patrol continue to prohibit people who are seeking refuge from entering the U.S., The Boy Scouts of America continue to encourage their scouts to participate in the Law Enforcement Explorer Program, a training partnership that grooms scouts to become Border Patrol agents.2 3 At a time when Border Patrol is being used to carry out Trump’s racist, xenophobic agenda, is used to separate families at the border, and is used to prevent Bahamian people from seeking out safety in the U.S., it is unacceptable that the Boy Scouts provide their scouts for this program.
This kind of behavior from the Boy Scouts is not new. The organization has a history of racism, refusing to desegregate until 1974 — 20 years after school segregation was outlawed and 10 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed. Now, they are embodying racism and xenophobia in their programming, choosing to encourage their scouts to train with a government organization that targets Black and Latinx people. Border Patrol demonizes us, creates fear in our communities, and makes it impossible for our friends and family members to feel comfortable in their own homes. We must stop the Boy Scouts’s participation in a program that causes such irreparable harm.
Write to the Boy Scouts of America and tell them to cut ties with Border Patrol.
Although ending the Boy Scouts’s partnership with Border Patrol may not end Border Patrol’s heinous actions right away, this fight is crucial. We must hold the Trump Administration’s enablers accountable for the ways they are embodying and perpetuating racism in this country. Allowing scouts to train with and learn from Border Patrol agents means that scouts are being indoctrinated with the racist and xenophobic beliefs by which Border Patrol operates.
Until justice is real,
—Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Evan, Johnny, Future, Samantha, Eesha, Marcus, FolaSade, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
References:
- “Trump says Bahamas full of ‘very bad gang members’ as he doubles down on not letting Hurricane Dorian refugees in to U.S.,” The Independent, September 9, 2019, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/186144?t=8&akid=36746%2E4731121%2ELpdjTK
- “Border Patrol Law Enforcement Explorer Program,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection, July 22, 2019, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/174140?t=10&akid=36746%2E4731121%2ELpdjTK
- “Border Patrol Youth Program Trains Children as Young as 14 to Become Agents,” KUT News, November 20, 2017, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/174142?t=12&akid=36746%2E4731121%2ELpdjTK
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