LULAC WARNS BORDER HUMANITARIAN CRISIS URGENTLY NEEDS IMMEDIATE FEDERAL EMERGENCY FUNDING
Nation's Oldest and Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Says Asylum Seekers Have the Right to Due Process and Not Being Treated Like Criminals
May 11, 2023
For more information, contact David Cruz at (818) 689-9991
davidcruz@lulac.org
El Paso, TX - The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) has issued one of its most urgent calls for critical emergency federal assistance in its 94-year history. The plea is on behalf of tens of thousands of migrants lawfully seeking the chance to apply for asylum in the United States and be allowed to stay while the courts hear their case. The unprecedented call from LULAC is for funding relief to community-based organizations and communities at the epicenter of the looming refugee crisis at the US-Mexico border. LULAC is taking this historic action on the eve of the Biden Administration lifting Title 42 enforcement on Friday, May 12. Tens of thousands of men, women, and children massed along the US-Mexico border for weeks or months have desperately waited to see this moment.
"LULAC is here to warn that we are at a critical tipping point, and the situation can only become more dire if the Administration and Congress do not act immediately," says Domingo Garcia, LULAC national president. "They must authorize significant federal aid to the impacted border regions specifically for desperately needed resources. These communities are being overwhelmed and urgently need government support to provide shelter, clothing, food, and medicine for arriving asylum seekers. These refugees are on legal immigration parole while the courts evaluate their applications. Those whose asylum petition the courts affirm will be allowed to stay; those who do not meet the test, judges will order returned to their country of origin. In the meantime, the need is massive and on a scale not seen before while reports are that thousands more refugees are headed here," says Garcia.
"Comprehensive immigration reform needs a fresh perspective," says Ray Mancera, LULAC national parliamentarian and longtime LULAC member in his hometown of El Paso. "We must look at arriving refugees who qualify for asylum as an opportunity that benefits them and the United States economy. Immigrants have historically been the lifeblood that replenishes our ranks of essential workers in jobs Americans do not want to do,” adds Mancera.
Lydia Guzman, LULAC National Immigration Chair, announced that in a few days, LULAC will hold the first border summit on refugee and immigration policies with leaders gathered in Laredo, Texas. "No single step and no single person can provide the total answer to a crisis of this magnitude that has developed over decades of inaction," she said. "LULAC is taking the lead as it always has because we must be solutions-focused instead of casting aspersions and treating the masses of humanity on the other side of our border as a threat being met with weapons and soldiers," says Guzman.
The LULAC Americas Plan:
- The League of United Latin American Citizens urges President Biden to exercise presidential privilege to implement emergency measures to mitigate the humanitarian crisis at the border.
- LULAC asks the Administration to expand the list of countries with TPS protection status to include those from which the asylees are fleeing to come to the United States.
- Provide more funding to border communities (NGOs, shelters, churches, local governments) to better prepare for the influx – rather than sending National Guard troops.
- Adequately support DHS agencies that perform intake duties and adjudicate asylum cases – rather than sending national guard troops.
President Garcia concludes, "LULAC rejects the fearmongering and scapegoating used by politicians for pure campaigning and political posturing. Using terms like invasion, murderers, and cartels during a humanitarian crisis is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. LULAC is focused on creating positive solutions. We urge politicians on both sides to join the conversation to be a part of the solution. Our failure to act on immigration reform will only increase unlawful migration by blocking lawful pathways to protection. Migrants will be forced to take dangerous journeys and fall prey to human traffickers that do not care about their victims' lives. We must all be a part of the solution, not an accomplice to unscrupulous human smugglers."
###