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Press Release
We Need
Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Not A Fence.
“A border fence
with Mexico sends the wrong message to our
southern neighbors and does nothing to solve the
immigration challenge”
September 15, 2006
Contact: Lizette
Jenness Olmos
(202) 365-4553
Washington, DC – The
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
is deeply concerned with the House vote on
Thursday, 283-138 for H.R. 6061 “Secure Fence
Act” because it will not enhance border security
but it will more than likely result in increased
deaths along the U.S. -Mexico border and cost
Americans taxpayers billions of dollars. H.R.
6061 would authorize 700 miles of double layered
fencing along a third of the U.S.-Mexico border.
“First and foremost, building
expensive fences is not going to solve our
nation’s problems. This is a sad state of
affairs in America today. Mexico is our friend.
We are for securing the border but not by
creating walls and fences along the border. It
sends the wrong message. Instead, we have to
continue the fight for social justice to ensure
that fair and just legislation is passed,” said
LULAC National President Rosa Rosales. “If we
really want to solve our national security
challenge, we must understand that we cannot
address border security without taking into
consideration who is inside our borders.”
The House led by Speaker
Dennis Hastert, R-IL will attempt at passing a
series of bills to strengthen border security by
the end of September and seek the Senate to go
along by including the legislation in a
House-Senate conference on the Homeland Security
Department’s appropriations bill before
November.
LULAC is in favor of border
security but wants a comprehensive approach to
solving the problem that is reasonable and fair.
Each year, more than 400 immigrants die
attempting to cross into the United States from
Mexico. Building a wall between Mexico and the
United States will force many migrants toward
even more dangerous avenues resulting in
increased loss of life along the border. Any
comprehensive immigration legislation passed by
Congress should be designed to reduce border
deaths, not increase them. The Republican
controlled Congress has failed to work with
Democrats in passing meaningful comprehensive
immigration reform this year.
Even some Republicans,
including Michael Chertoff, have warned that
security plans for Mexico were excessive, while
the proposals to protect the Canada-U.S. border
did not go far enough. One such example is that
of Southern Arizona Representative from the 8th
district Jim Kolbe who said that Congress needs
to be more worried about security along
America’s northern border because of mounting
evidence that Islamic terrorist cells are
lurking citing the arrests of 18 terror plotters
in Toronto.
The League of the United Latin
American Citizen (www.lulac.org) is the oldest
and largest Latino membership based civil rights
organization in the United States. It advances
the economic conditions, educational attainment,
political influence, health and civil rights of
Hispanic Americans through community-based
programs operating at more than 700 LULAC
councils nationwide.
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