Statement on S.744 Border Enforcement

When Senate Bill S.744 passed the Senate Judiciary committee, it already represented a grotesque level of border militarization. With a price tag of 6.6 billion dollars, adding 3,5000 new troops and with a stated goal of total surveillance of the Southern border, the bill was already characterized by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano as an “unmatched piece of legislation” in border militarization. Now, senators have negotiated a deal that would increase this “surge” to 30 billion dollars, 20,000 new troops and even more military equipment.

Throughout this period of “reform fever”, we have been hearing this argument:  militarization is a necessary compromise if we are to pass immigration reform. This right-wing myth has found its most fervent advocates among reform promoters who fashion themselves as champions of immigrant communities: so-called “immigrant rights’ NGO’s and democratic party politicians, who have become the main cheerleaders of the war machine. But there is no such thing as harmless militarization; there is no justification for the genocide at the border, for violating the sovereignty of indigenous nations; for terrorizing immigrants and border communities. And now we see that promoters of immigration reform have pushed the debate so far to the right, that cheering for genocide is the new “progressive” common-sense. Once reformists embraced militarization, the only unanswered questions are: how many billions, how many troops, how many lives.

We call on all social justice organizations and all immigrant communities to categorically denounce border militarization; to resist any efforts to increase border enforcement; to fight against any initiative that justifies these maneuvers as necessary or acceptable “compromise”. Not one dollar. Not one more border officer. Not one drone. Not one more foot of border wall. Not one more death. The struggle for migrant justice is the struggle against border militarization and colonial violence.

It is time for organizations and campaigns claiming to promote immigrant rights to stop supporting this bill. Accepting the border militarization “compromise” means being complicit in the genocide at the border and the repression of millions of immigrants inside the country.

We stand in solidarity with the ongoing resistance of indigenous border nations. We refuse the logic of justifying colonialism in the name of immigrant rights.

Moratorium on Deportations Campaign
No Name Collective
www.whoseimmigrationreform.com