FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anna Núñez, ACLU of Texas, 713-942-8146, Ext. 103; [email protected]
AUSTIN, TEXAS – The Texas House of Representatives Homeland Security & Public Safety (HSPS) Committee today held a public hearing on border operations, in response to the increased border crossings by unaccompanied children from Central America. Gov. Rick Perry recently tapped into $38 million in emergency funds to pay for his deployment of more than 1,000 National Guard troops along the border, which will cost taxpayers about $12 million a month.
In testimony delivered before the HSPS Committee, Terri Burke, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas, stated:
“There are only two kinds of additional boots on the ground needed in the Valley: humanitarian agencies like the Red Cross and more administrative and judicial personnel to screen these immigrants to determine their status, whether they warrant consideration for asylum or refugee status or for U or T visas…. To secure the border, our nation needs legal programs that respect family reunification and more clearly hew to labor demands, among a number of other changes.”
In his testimony before the committee, Michael Seifert, a Brownsville resident and head of the Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network—a coalition of community-based organizations—stated:
“It is true that there are border residents who do not feel safe—but not because of huge amounts of illegal immigration, but because of the huge number of federal agents. Over the past four years, we have lost over a third of our winter visitors—a $69 million loss. My wife, as a doctor, has kids who ask her if they are in danger—if there are so many agents, something bad must be going on. I invite you to come see for yourselves. We are one of the safest communities in the entire country. We don’t need more troopers—send them to Houston, they have three times the violent crime that we have.”
