{"id":663,"date":"2010-08-10T14:21:37","date_gmt":"2010-08-10T19:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bnhr.org\/?p=663"},"modified":"2010-08-10T15:35:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-10T20:35:00","slug":"press-release-new-poll-shows-border-residents-fell-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/press-release-new-poll-shows-border-residents-fell-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"Press release: New poll shows border residents feel safe"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Immediate Release\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Contact: \u00c2\u00a0Katherine Vargas<\/a> (National), (202) 641-5198<\/p>\n

August 10, 2010\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 Louie Gilot<\/a> (Texas), (915) 274-0541<\/p>\n

NEW POLL SHOWS BORDER RESIDENTS FEEL SAFE<\/strong><\/p>\n

El Paso Group Orders First Opinion Poll of Border Residents on Safety<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

El Paso, TX<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The findings of the first independent public opinion poll<\/a> of residents along in border cities in California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico show that residents feel their border communities are as safe as most communities in the nation. The release of the report comes on the heels of the House of Representatives passage of a $600 million in supplemental funding for border enforcement<\/a> (HR 6080) calling for more money and agents to the Southern border. \u00c2\u00a0The poll results confirm the disconnect between the widespread perception of chaos at the border and the less dramatic picture of reality of border life.<\/p>\n

According to the poll, commissioned by the Border Network for Human Rights<\/a>, a community organization in El Paso, Texas, and conducted by the Reuel Group, 86.5% of border residents said they feel safe walking or driving in their neighborhood during their regular daily activities. Almost 70% said they felt their border neighborhood was as safe as most U.S. neighborhoods and 67% said they felt safe living in their border community.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Politicians creating border policies need to talk to the people who actually live at the border instead of listening to pundits and opportunistic politicians set to score political points by fanning the perception that the border is out of control,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d added Fernando Garc\u00c3\u00ada, Executive Director, Border Network for Human Rights.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/strong>It is time to rethink our border policy by increasing the quality<\/em> and accountability of border enforcement, not the quantity <\/em>of armed agents and soldiers on our southern border.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In law enforcement, there are two things we look at. One is the crime rate and the other is the fear of crime. Because it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help to have a low crime rate, which we do, if people are afraid of going outside,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said El Paso Sheriff Richard Wiles<\/strong>. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What we see in our community is that people are concerned with graffiti and stray dogs. All the issues of urban areas. Extreme violence is just not happening here and we need to revisit how resources are expanded on the border. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a message to send the administration.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Heated rhetoric on border violence has escalated fear but ignores the reality on the ground. This has prevented politicians from addressing the real problems in the broken immigration system,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Arizona State Representative Kyrsten Sinema<\/strong>. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We need a comprehensive solution to border security and immigration. Our broken system is a national crisis that requires strong and relentless presidential leadership and bold action from Congress. Our country, including my state of Arizona, desperately needs an immigration system that works.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Political rhetoric and not reality is what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s driving the national debate over border security. Members of Congress want to pass yet another enforcement bill so they can look \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tough\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on border enforcement but the reality is that we will never have a secure border as long as we have politicians who seek political points with calls for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153securing the border\u00e2\u20ac\u009d while avoiding the hard work of reforming our immigration system,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d added Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum.<\/strong> The federal government has dedicated unprecedented resources to the Mexican border and progress has been made to secure our border.\u00c2\u00a0 However, without fixing the immigration system, more resources on the border bring diminishing returns at best, a complete waste of tax dollars at worst.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The poll was conducted on 1,222 border residents in three Arizona border cities (Douglas, Nogales and Yuma), two California border cities (El Centro and San Diego), Las Cruces, New Mexico, and four Texas border cities (Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo and McAllen) in mid-July.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

For an electronic copy of the poll, please visit: http:\/\/bit.ly\/borderresults<\/a><\/p>\n

For a report on the poll results with policy recommendations: http:\/\/bit.ly\/BorderReport<\/a><\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

More information on the Border Network for Human Rights<\/em>: This organization, founded in 1998, is one of the leading immigration reform and human rights advocacy organization in the United States. Based in El Paso, the BNHR counts about 4,000 members in El Paso and Southern New Mexico. More information at www.bnhr.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Contact: \u00c2\u00a0Katherine Vargas (National), (202) 641-5198 August 10, 2010\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 Louie Gilot (Texas), (915) 274-0541 NEW POLL SHOWS BORDER RESIDENTS FEEL SAFE El Paso Group...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bnhr.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}