Take Action: Join our Webinar
To learn more about this necessary immigration reform and future opportunities to get involved, head to txfaith.org/DIGNIDADwebinar to register for our webinar on Thursday, August 3rd at 6:30 pm CDT.
We have not seen comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform like the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2023 in a decade. The DIGNIDAD Act stands for “Dignity for Immigrants while Guarding our Nation to Ignite and Deliver the American Dream Act of 2023.” Congressional Representatives Veronica Escobar (D-TX) and Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) propose detailed solutions for long-term migrants and their families.
We, at Texas Impact cannot overstate how important it is to learn about and advocate for this new bill. The situation is dire in Texas, and if there was ever a time to take action, it is now.
Dire Situation in Texas Requires Dire Remedies
Last week, a Texas DPS trooper-medic’s email to his superiors made headlines and garnered substantial attention to the inhumane treatment of people seeking asylum under the state funded Operation Lone Star (OLS). The DPS trooper detailed chilling incidents of migrant children and people hurt or even death caused from the wiring in the river. In addition to receiving orders to not provide migrants water and “were given orders to push the people back into the water to go to Mexico”.
These orders are a violation of international human rights obligations and of our federal immigration laws. As I’ve reiterated in several of my past blogs, “Allowing people to seek asylum at ports of entry is the law under the Immigration and Nationality Act 8 U.S.C. §1158(a)(1) which states anyone regardless of how they entered the United States may seek asylum.” As such, this requires that federal Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents provide migrants with an opportunity to seek asylum protections in accordance with Title 8 processing procedures. Instead, not only are state law enforcement entities under OLS treating migrants inhumanely, they are also violating immigration laws, and the rights of migrants.
In response to the DPS trooper-medic’s leaked email, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has sued Governor Abbott. The DOJ is arguing the deadly buoys were placed in the Rio Grande without authority from the Federal government in violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA) and as such, is asking the Judge to require their immediate removal. Most importantly, these buoys impede CBP from conducting their duties, as the DOJ claim states, “obstructions in the water impair the freedom of movement of Border Patrol personnel conducting rescue operations and potentially delay their response times.”
These illegally placed buoys are harming people, our environment, and the wildlife for whom the Rio Grande is their home. From the environmental perspective, “Laiken Jordahl, Southwest conservation advocate for the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, says the buoys greatly threaten animal and wildlife on the river.”
Operation Lone Star (OLS) encroaches on federal immigration laws resulting in:
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- OLS costing upwards of $4 billion
- Buoy barriers costing approximately $1 million
- Violations of human rights
- Violations of federal immigration laws
- Violations of other federal laws such as the Rivers and Harbors Act
- Harm and death to children and people seeking asylum protection and safety
- Harm and death to National Guard Soldiers assigned to OLS mission
- Harm to our environment, animals, and wildlife in the Rio Grande
- Harm to border communities that are over policed by OLS
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It’s time for Texas to stop spending colossal sums of money on harming people and our environment, and instead support Congress to pass comprehensive and humane immigration reform.