<p></p>
<p>A sense of urgency pervaded as a group representing 60 immigration and border organizations met in El Paso, Texas – near the border between the U.S. and the rest of the world – to discuss the changes and measures they expect the incoming presidential administration to pursue.<br>
From San Diego, the Southern Border Communities coalition (SBCC) and the American Friends Service Committee traveled to Texas, a state that shares many of the same concerns as Southern California, including dealings with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the constant flow of undocumented aliens from Mexico into the United States.<br>
“We are strengthened, we are united, and we are prepared for whatever comes; it is a difficult time, but I think that at the end of the day the unity we have among border people will help us get through these coming four years that look complicated for the country and for our region,” said SBCC Director Christian Ramirez.</p>
<p><strong>THE PROPOSALS</strong><br>
During the meeting, 40 delegates moved forward with agreements they feel will be vital to face the incoming administration. The proposals, which are expected to be implemented immediately along the border, include measures to be promoted during the last weeks of Barack Obama’s presidency, ending the use of racial profiling by CBP for detention purposes, aid to immigrants, and an appeal by border region mayors, governors, and representatives to protest any potential militarization of the border.<br>
“To protest any attempt by the Federal Government to build more walls in the border region, attempts to send more Border Patrol agents without first seeking a dialogue that is urgently needed among mayors and representatives; all of it to show that the Border Region does make significant contributions to the country’s economic development and that we will not allow the region to be subjugated by brute force, as this goes against the brotherhood that exists in the border region,” added Ramirez.<br>
The meeting was also attended by Canadian border representatives, who expressed they were also working on a strategic plan based on federal and state law to better protect their citizens against a series of claims that remain unresolved, and added that they also anticipate a tightening of the border.<br>
Both groups also spoke of the importance of the economic development that the U.S. has benefitted from thanks to the trade and cultural ties with their neighbors to the north and south, and which are now threatened by President-elect Donald Trump’s rhetoric and his call for the deployment of additional agents that would do little to improve the quality of life of the more than 15 million residents.<br>
“Well, he now has the difficult task of governing, and of governing sensibly, bearing in mind that this is still a democracy and that he is bound by the Constitution, which we will defend tooth and nail,” added Ramirez.</p>