Rep. Beto O’Rourke: I Support the National Day of Action Against Border Militarization

Congressman O’Rourke extends a statement of support for the National Day of Action Against Border Militarization on July 17, 2013

“I am grateful that community members in 11 different cities around the country are standing up for border communities and conducting activities aimed to educate the public about the negative consequences of militarizing large portions of the United States.  I have been working with my colleagues to address the unique needs of border communities, especially in the context of an immigration reform debate that has deviated towards more militarization of the border, where 7 million Americans live and work.  As Congress continues working to fix our broken immigration system, I remain committed to standing for the Border Caucus Principles below. We need a solution that is humane, rationale and fiscally responsible.  I congratulate Border Network for Human Rights for taking the lead on the National Day of Action Against Border Militarization and I encourage everyone to do their part to promote the rich cultural and economic contributions that our border offers the rest of the United States.”

The Border Caucus’ Immigration Reform Principles:

We are strongly supportive of comprehensive immigration reform that protects and unites families, provides a clear path to citizenship, secures our borders, and creates economic prosperity in our communities and the nation.

As representatives from border communities and members of the Border Caucus, we support a comprehensive solution to fix our immigration system that adheres to five principles:

• Keeps our communities safe by making smart and fiscally responsible investments in border security that are results oriented, supportive of border law enforcement and aimed at protecting our nation from real threats, such as drug cartels and human traffickers.

• Promotes economic prosperity along the border region and throughout the rest of the nation by bolstering trade with Mexico, which supports 6 million American jobs.

• Facilitates the legal flow of trade and people across our borders through modernizing the infrastructure and increasing the number of customs officials at our ports of entry to build on the immense economic potential of cross-border trade.

• Protects the human rights of immigrants, the civil liberties of our constituents, the way of life of border communities, and ends the humanitarian crisis of migrant deaths.

• Provides for accountability and transparency of border security measures and guarantees that border communities have a voice in implementing border security measures that directly impact them.