FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 16, 2021
PRESS CONTACT: Alia El-Assar | alia@communicationsshop.us
New Ellis Island Border Policy Group Convenes Members for Dialogue with DHS Senior Engagement Liaison on the Department’s Immigration Policies at the Southern Border
EL PASO, TEXAS – Yesterday, the New Ellis Island Border Policy Group convened dozens of stakeholders in a meeting via Zoom with Anna Hinken, Senior Engagement Liaison at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to facilitate ongoing dialogue with DHS on border communities’ major concerns as the Biden administration works to fix the broken immigration system and build a more just and humane border.
A project of the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR), the New Ellis Island Border Policy Group meeting provided a forum for members to enumerate their priority issues pertaining to immigration enforcement under DHS, including use of force by officers, the deportation of non-citizen U.S. veterans, the expulsion of asylum seekers under Title 42, Border Patrol checkpoints, and more.
Among those present during the meeting were representatives from local organizations including BNHR, Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance (RITA), La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), ARISE Adenate, Albuquerque Center for Peace & Justice, Texas Civil Rights Project, FWD.us, ACLU of Texas, Diocesan Migrant Refugee Services, El Paso Chapter of The Links Incorporated, Repatriate Our Patriots, and Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, as well as a representative from Texas Congresswoman Veronica Escobar’s office.
“Holding space for border stakeholders in this conversation as DHS and the administration define immigration priorities and policy is extremely important, because the southern border region is unique, with its own specific history, context, and problems. Real solutions require an open dialogue that fosters DHS transparency and accountability to the community. This is an important first step to a consistent and substantive dialogue with the Biden administration,” said Fernando García, executive director of BNHR.
The Border Network for Human Rights, founded in 1998, is one of the leading human rights advocacy and immigration reform organizations in the U.S. BNHR has over 7,000 members in West Texas and Southern New Mexico.
