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“God Doesn’t Ask for a Passport Before He Showers You with Grace”

Jun 13, 2024 | Asylum, Asylum Ban, Blog, Human Migration, Human Rights, Latest Posts

President Biden: Proclamation and Rule on “Securing the Border” 

Last week, President Biden announced his proclamation on “Securing the Border” that went into effect on June 5, 2024. Many news outlets reported it as “shutting down the border” although that is not entirely true. 

The proclamation suspends people from claiming asylum at our land border with Mexico and coastal border when certain threshold numbers are met: 

  • Once federal immigration officials encounter an average of more than 2,500 people between ports of entry per day over a seven-day period, the proclamation/rule goes into effect.
  • This restriction to asylum remains in place until 14 days after an average of 1,500 people are encountered at the border for 7 consecutive days.
  • While the asylum restriction is in place, the only protections available are withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture. 
  • While this ban is in effect, people processed during this time will be expected to explicitly “shout out” that they have a fear of returning to their home country, otherwise DHS is not required to screen for this fear and
  • Heightens the standard for credible fear of persecution which is a new higher burden to meet without much access to legal help. 
  • There are exceptions, such as unaccompanied children, and people who are trafficked for example. 

 

Texas: Senate Committee on Border Security on “Securing the Texas-Mexico Border”

This week the Texas Senate Committee held an interim hearing on “Securing the Texas-Mexico Border”. There were 4 panels of various state law enforcement entities and criminal justice entities that are all involved in Operation Lone Star (OLS). The hearing took over 5 hours and concluded with public testimony. 

A highlight of testimony was the 11 billion dollars that OLS has cost the taxpayers of Texas in the name of “security” without much transparency and contradictory data as reported in the ACLU TX report. There was also the troubling testimony about “74 people were killed and another 189 injured as the result of 49 pursuits by Texas troopers or local law enforcement, or both, in Operation Lone Star counties.”

Other notable and worrisome highlights from invited testimony panelists include:

  • “I think the cartels are putting a lot of pressure on them [migrants] to cross, sometimes when they don’t want to cross here, the cartels tell them: you better cross, or we’ll kill you, and don’t come back.” –Texas Military Department: Major General Thomas Suelzer at archived recording time 1:02:50 https://tlcsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=54&clip_id=18517

 

We Need: Long-Term Sustainable Solutions from Congress

Our state and federal governments are not providing long term sustainable solutions. Deterrence based policies alone do not work. Families fleeing government instability, violence, climate disasters, and war are not going to be deterred from seeking refuge. Both the federal government and Texas are only making it more difficult for people seeking safety to access the right to ask for asylum, while at the same time, wasting money in more criminalization and militarization of our communities. 

Instead, we need real solutions from Congress that address the root causes of why people are forced to flee their home countries. We need efficient, fair, and humane processing at our border. We need funding to address the immigration court and USCIS case backlogs. We need to create pathways to citizenship for those that have been part of our communities for many years such as DACA recipients, TPS recipients, and long term US residents who have been waiting for decades for an immigration reform to help them adjust their immigration status. 

Pastor Julio Vasquez from Iglesia Luterana San Lucas in Eagle Pass said it best during his testimony that was read at the Border Security hearing: 

“The good book tells us in Matthew 22:39 to love thy neighbor as thyself, now your neighbor isn’t just the folks down the street. Your neighbor is the weary traveler lost in a strange land,  the one with pockets empty and a heart full of fear. They might speak a different language, wear different clothes,  but they share the same sky, breathe the same air, and carry the same spark of the divine. Some folks want to judge, want to draw lines based on where you come from but that isn’t the gospel I preach. God doesn’t ask for a passport before he showers you with grace. No my friends, God sees the heart, sees the struggle, sees the potential for good in every single one of us.”

 

SENATE COMMITTEE BORDER SECURITY TESTIMONY RECORDINGS: 

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