Though Congress is out of session for the Thanksgiving recess, they have vowed to have a full vote on the Border Security and Terrorism Prevention Act the week of December 12. It is very important to express opposition to this bill – right now, the House is feeling very reactionary, and this bill may get even worse before it gets better. Here are some of the provisions of the bill:

• The Department of Homeland Security must develop a comprehensive border security plan in the next six months that will increase the use of technology, infrastructure, and manpower at the border.
• The bill puts terrorists and undocumented migrants in the same category, saying that this new plan must respond to both threats equally.
• Put 8,000 new Border Patrol Agents on our borders
• The Department of Defense must develop a plan to allow the Border Patrol to more fully take advantage of its resources. It includes unmanned aerial vehicles, radars, surveillance equipment and “assistance” in conducting surveillance activities.
• Requires Homeland Security to develop a plan for securing national parks, forests, and other recreational areas along the border. This would give them increased authority on environmentally sensitive lands.
• Mandates the detention and deportation of all undocumented migrants. If they are released pending a court date, they must take out a minimum bond of $5,000. This will basically increase the jailing of migrants.
• Transfer the authority of the Tohono O’odham Shadow Wolves (the reservation’s police force that addresses migration issues) to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

When talking to your Representative, you can mention the following:

• Increased border security without comprehensive immigration reform will not work. Until we reform our immigration laws to allow willing workers to enter the country legally, people will continue to cross our borders.
• Increased border security without comprehensive immigration reform will increase migrant deaths in the desert. In the past ten years we have seen that tightening security only pushes migrants further into the desert. This bill will speed-up that process, and the humanitarian crisis will increase dramatically.
• This bill will increase the militarization of our border, and increase the sense of “siege” that border residents feel. With more infrastructure, technology, and troops living in small border communities, residents feel like they are living in a war zone, not the United States.
• Reinforcing our current border security strategy is throwing money at a failed plan. Despite billions of dollars being spent over the past ten years to secure our borders, the Border Patrol itself acknowledges that more undocumented migrants are entering the country today than they were ten years ago.
• Increasing border security without comprehensive immigration reform panders to the worst fears of Americans without offering realistic solutions. It is time that Congress looks at reforming our broken immigration system and stop the fearmongering.

As mentioned before, the Border Security and Terrorism Prevention Act is only moving in the House of Representatives right now. Please take the time to contact your Representative and state your opposition to this bill, which will be voted on in three weeks! With Congress in recess until December 5, this is the perfect time to express your opinions in your home district and stop this bill in its tracks.

You can find your Representative’s contact information at www.house.gov. If you’d like more lobbying tips, or more information on immigration reform and border security, feel free to visit the Influencing Candidates portion of our website.