THREAD: Some Human rights context for xenophobic political theater at the US southern border today- Both Trump and Biden called for more deadly deterrence and framed their remarks around border security rather than human security. A lose-lose for voters. hrw.org/news/2023/07/2…

The “prevention through deterrence," officially adopted by the Border Patrol in August of 1994. But its enforcement-onlytactics have failed to reduce migration, have cost billions of taxpayer dollars – enriching military contractors – and led to thousands of migrant deaths

National Immigrant Law Center on Biden's speech: "Rather than embracing the policies he articulated on his first day in office, the President instead doubled down on the Senate’s failed border bill and parroted dehumanizing Republican rhetoric about immigrants."

1/ At a time when far-right forces are unleashing a torrent of vitriol against immigrant community members, President Donald J. Trump should be standing up for common humanity, decency, and dignity. He should be advancing simple, proven solutions that help all communities thrive. #SOTU2024

The forest: Biden's party cheers on a bill that needlessly increases surveillance, further criminalizes asylum-seekers, and makes it normal to shut down the border; legislation that codifies the same Trump practices that Democrats previously decried are now celebrated.

Crossing the border without authorization in order to seek asylum is not against the law. The assumption that it is illegal to do so stems from an ignorance about basic U.S. law, compounded by the influence of racist rhetoric that characterizes discourse about migrants.

Damning new report from No More Deaths | No Más Muertes fills in a longstanding gap about migrant deaths in New Mexico. In recent years, there have been up to *4 times* as many migrant deaths as were officially tallied. elpasomigrantdeathdatabase.org/index.php/migr…

This is really the key thing to understand about what happened in El Paso yesterday. The migrants were already a hundred feet or more onto US soil (the border is the channel of the Rio Grande) and were trying to hand themselves in to Border Patrol, but Texas was blocking them.

We've said it once an d we'll say it again. "Border security" = Death "Deterrence" = Death "Militarization" = Death It's literally that simple.

Attempting to use 212(f) to override US & international refugee law would be a legal & political mistake. It would also trigger its own disorder & wouldn’t fix border challenges. Proceeding w/unlawful policies & waiting for courts to shut them down was core Trump playbook.

In #Nogales #Sonora last week, families & adults of various nationalities wait 7-8 mos. for a CBP1 appt to seek asylum. At the #Nogales POE, spoke w/ Mexican asylum seekers waiting 6 mos. on a metering list to enter bc CBP continues to limit processing of those w/o appts.

Biden placed migrant families in open-air detention sites and argued the children trapped there weren't actually in custody and therefore not subject to basic standards of care. He was ordered to reverse course by a federal judge last month. Happy siete de lo mismo de siempre.

Harrowing report from Georgetown Privacy analyzing the dramatic expansion of DHS program that takes DNA from thousands of ppl who are detained (even briefly). DHS’s program operates w/ almost no oversight & the DNA they take is used for criminal policing & prosecution. #AbolishICE 🧵

It’s notable to see the WH prep a POTUS event on policies that Dems used to call illegal. Pundits will say this is a smart move to the center on immigration, but this issue has moved so far to the right that Dems are embracing extreme asylum bans even when border numbers are down

On the day of this border announcement, also worth noting the Biden admin also continues to fight families separated by Trump in court over restitution and has held exactly zero people accountable for the policy Biden himself called “criminal.”

More people were killed by US Customs and Border Patrol in 2022 than died at the Berlin Wall in its entire 28-year existence.

Crossing the border without authorization in order to seek asylum is not against the law. Crossing the border without authorization in order to seek asylum is not against the law. Crossing the border without authorization in order to seek asylum is not against the law. Crossing t

There is nothing lawful about barring asylum. “Already having an impact” includes summarily deporting hundreds of Mexican asylum seeking families daily. Pedro De Velasco

Spoke w/ many Mexican families deported to Nogales under Biden’s asylum shutdown: 🆘 CBP is not asking whether individuals have a fear, so most unable to express it. Verbally abused & intimidated. Some expressed it & fear was ignored ‼️ 🆘 all were deported w/o paperwork

A subtle bipartisan shift in the language of immigration has opened the door to vilification and dehumanization. interc.pt/3ZvxETM