CAMPAIGNS

Local

The Black Lives Matter movement has moved closer to the systemic situation of community residents at the U.S./Mexico border. Border residents, Blacks, immigrants, people of color, and refugee communities are subjected to systems of oppression, abuse, and vitriol that permeate in the rest of the country. In 2020, BNHR launched the creation of the El Paso Police Accountability Task Force, an unprecedented, multicultural, Black and Brown coalition in the border region. 

A community identification is a government-issued ID that would permit all El Pasoans–including veterans, transgender individuals, mixed-legal status families, those experiencing home insecurity, and victims of domestic violence to have their fundamental right to identification and facilitate access to essential services. A community ID is a step forward to guaranteeing that all El Pasoans will have an equal opportunity to participate in our booming economic development.

For the last 4 years, the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR), along with elected officials, faith-based institutions, and community advocates, have held the El Paso Firme Community Memorial in remembrance of the 23 innocent lives lost.

Statewide

Border Network for Human Rights adapted and launched the Frontera Texas Organizing Project with the primary goal of building community capacity and leadership, expanding immigration law enforcement abuse documenting strategies, building a border community-oriented narrative, and elevating the advocacy efforts in six Texas border regions: El Paso, Presidio-Marfa, Sierra Blanca-Van Horn, Del Rio-Eagle Pass, Laredo, and the Texas Rio Grande Valley.

In light of the continuous and rampant human and civil rights violations committed under Operation Lone Star (OLS) and the unprecedented passage of dangerous, anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and racist legislation, the BNHR alongside the Frontera Texas Organizing Project (FTOP), and over 50 Texas organizations launched the We Will Resist Campaign to mobilize all Texans to demand the repeal of Senate Bill 4 and immediate end of Operation Lone Star. 

The Abuse Documentation campaign is an annual initiative that encourages community members to safely denounce and document incidents of abuse inflicted by local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel located at the U.S. southern border and in the interior of Mexico.

National

Since 2016, Hugs Not Walls has been a spotlight on the damaging impacts the current inhumane and broken immigration reform system has had on Latino/Hispanic/Border families and provided a beacon of hope towards the ongoing struggle for a humane border policy. 

In the spring of 2021, BNHR and RITA launched the “We Are The 11 Million” campaign to call for holistic immigration reform. This reform includes a pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented people, demilitarization of the southern border, and increased transparency and accountability among federal immigration enforcement agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

If we are to truly live up to our values as a welcoming nation, we must create policies, protocols, and infrastructure that uphold our American values of welcoming, make institutions work better on behalf of American communities, and ensure our communities are safe and our rights are respected and protected.

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