Policies, Actions, and Initiatives
The mission of Humane Borders is twofold: we work to prevent people from dying from dehydration and exposure, and we seek to create a just and humane environment in the borderlands.
In our pursuit of creating a just and humane environment, we call for the formation of policies that acknowledge and respect the humanity of undocumented immigrants. Further, we take a stand against policies that put undocumented men, women, and children in harm’s way.
To these ends, we have signed on to the following initiatives:
In 2020, Humane Borders signed a letter supporting this bill in Congress to expand critical funding to process the unidentified remains of border crossers, to help resolve missing persons cases, to authorize funding for 170 “911” cellular rescue beacons, and to require reports on tracking and preventing loss of life to better inform policymaking in the borderlands. The bill was signed into law in January of 2021.
Humane Borders supports this November 2022 initiative which, if passed into law by voters, would establish the Office of Immigration Representation and provide Pima County, Arizona residents facing deportation or detention access to a legal defender.
Humane Borders stands with Arizona communities to demand that political campaigns cease the use of overt racism in advertisements that pathologize undocumented immigrants, causing damage to communities throughout the state. These ads resort to using imagery that instills fear and only serves to poison political discourse: “From the image of a woman locking her door in dark shadows while the narrator compares it to our border and eliciting fear, to shadowy imagery of people rushing the border, and the newest signs stating 'no trespassing zone, violators will be prosecuted,' all elicit fear based on lies and xenophobia."
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Letter to Chairs and Ranking Members of Senate and House Appropriation Committees (Jan. 2022)
Along with a number of other border network organizations, Humane Borders endorsed this letter which called for the rescission of remaining border wall funding for the fiscal year 2022 Homeland Security appropriations bill. The letter also demanded that appropriations for remediation of damage caused by the border wall should be jointly managed by the Department of Homeland Security in conjunction with the Department of the Interior.
Letter to Chair of House Homeland Security and the Border Security Subcommittee (Nov. 2021)
In this letter addressed to Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Humane Borders expressed its support for H.R. 4848, which would rescind the authority of the Department of Homeland Security to waive legal requirements to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads in the vicinity of the U.S. Border. Since 2005, the DHS has wielded the authority to waive all federal, state, local, and Native American tribal laws to expedite border wall and road construction.
Letter to the Center for Disease Control Director (Oct. 2021)
Along with numerous other border and immigrant advocate organizations, Humane Borders added its signature to this letter that called upon the Center of Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky to end the use of Title 42 Order for the immediate expulsion of asylum seekers.
Letter to Congress to Reject an Increase in ICE Detention & Removal Funding (Sept. 2021)
Humane Borders endorsed this letter urging Congress to reject certain funding measures in the context of a Continuing Resolution for fiscal year 2021 funding. Specifically, we opposed an increase in ICE detention and removals and increased flexibility in Customs Border Protection spending that could be used for further border militarization and enforcement.
Letter to Stop Funding Border Wall (June 2021)
In June of 2021 and in concert with the Border Coalition, Humane Borders signed this letter calling on President Biden to stop funding of the border wall and to halt land condemnations. The letter also called for rescinding previously appropriated funds, and for a direct remediation process to remediate border wall harms.
Letter to President Biden (Feb. 2021)
In February of 2021, Humane Borders was part of a group effort that called on President Biden to halt mass en mass prosecutions under Operation Streamline, to suspend unauthorized entry and reentry prosecutions, to rescind prosecutorial guidance and de-prioritize prosecutions, and to terminate Department of Homeland Security contracts with private prisons.
The administration terminated use of privatized prisons by the Department of Justice, but not by the Department of
Homeland Security.
Letter to the Department of Justice (January 2021)
On Jan. 30, 2021, in network with the American Immigration Lawyers Association and other organizations, Humane Borders signed on to a letter calling for the removal of non-priority cases from the immigration court docket, reform of the immigration courts, restriction of the number of prosecutions for illegal entry, and provision of legal representation for those facing removal who could not afford counsel.
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