Press Release

 

 

For Immediate Release
Contact: Joanna Taylor ,
202-256-1395
June 29, 2021

**Amid Border Visits, Local Leaders Urge Solutions**

**WASHINGTON, D.C.**- Following Vice President Kamala Harris' Friday
visit to the Texas-Mexico border and ahead of Republicans' visits this
week, law enforcement and faith voices from Texas border communities are
emphasizing the need for nuanced dialogue and bipartisan solutions.

The following are quotes from faith, law enforcement and other leaders
along the border:

**Sami DiPasquale, Executive Director, Abara, El Paso, Texas:**"There
are no simple solutions to the challenges we see manifested on our
U.S.-Mexico border. It will take a broad, nonpartisan coalition of
people pursuing solutions in good faith - from addressing challenges
in Central America and along migrant pathways, to updating immigration
laws in the U.S., to collaborative cross-border, multi-sector coalitions
along the border. We would love to see government agencies working in
partnership with civil society and faith communities to invest in
hurting communities and welcome the most vulnerable with dignity."  

**Chief Andy Harvey, Pharr, Texas:**"Despite what the media and
politicians may say about the Texas border, the Rio Grande Valley is
safe. I urge elected officials on both sides of the aisle to listen to
actual law enforcement leaders here working to protect our border
communities in Texas: we need solutions that both secure our borders and
protect asylum-seekers from being victimized. Let's keep our dialogue
about people, not politics."

**Chief Victor Rodriguez, McAllen, Texas:**"As a police chief, keeping
our community safe is top priority. Those of us who live along the
border know that the border issues that our country faces today demand
that politics be set aside and bipartisan policy solutions finally
adopted." 

Bishop Mark Seitz, El Paso, Texas, speaking Friday to Vice President
Kamala Harris (as quoted in Catholic News Service
):
"The sacrifices of the pandemic borne by our Dreamers, undocumented
essential workers and their families, who ensured our health,
nourishment and safety and made possible our recovery, must be matched
by our standing with them in their struggle for citizenship. ... The
Central American archbishop and martyr, Oscar Romero, once said that
'there are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have
cried.' I invite you to touch the suffering flesh and hear the stories
of those forced to approach the gates of this city seeking protection.
We must stand with our neighbors in their struggle to be artisans of
their futures."

**Bishop Seitz is also a National Immigration Forum board member.**

**Monica Weisberg-Stewart, Chairwoman, Immigration and Border Security
Committee, Texas Border Coalition:**"The number of migrants in ICE
holding facilities at the U.S.-Mexico border and the longstanding
backlog of cases in immigration courts are troubling. They are evidence
of a broken asylum and immigration system that Congress should have
fixed years ago. Migrants will continue to come so long as economic and
political pressures drive them out of their homes, and border
communities will bear the brunt of receiving them until Congress
addresses the problem with well-functioning immigration courts, smart
border enforcement, infrastructure investment at the land ports of entry
to facilitate legitimate trade and travel, comprehensive immigration
reform, and support for local border communities that provide
humanitarian assistance."

**Ali Noorani, President & CEO, National Immigration Forum:**"Effective,
sustainable solutions at the border will not come from politicized town
halls, draconian restrictions or one-size-fits-all enforcement. Instead,
lawmakers in search of good-faith immigration solutions should work with
the White House to prioritize bipartisan compromise and build consensus.
An effective approach to border security can't happen in a vacuum. It
goes hand-in-hand with a modernized, functioning immigration system and
a multilateral strategy to address the root causes of migration."

To request interviews with these and other border leaders, please
contact Dynahlee Padilla .

###

 

 

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