If you read the headlines yesterday, you likely saw something about the Biden Administration waiving 26 laws to allow for the continuation of the border wall construction in Texas. You may have seen a report about Mexico agreeing to deport asylum seekers from border cities, or verified stories of more than 50,000 Venezuelans crossing into the US in a single month. 

Tensions are high as the US has expanded deployment of National Guard troops to several locations along the US/Mexico border. Aljazeera documented what appears to be cruel treatment of a man and his young son,  attempting to cross into the US by weaving their bodies through criss-crossed razor wire. Newsnation also posted the video below showing closeup footage of a toddler crawling through the wire.

And what of the Operation Lone Star in Texas? Human Rights Watch reported the testimony of Bob Libel on the physical harm the policy has brought upon thousands of people attempting to find refuge from violence and political repression in their home countries. One group held a vigil this week, to commemorate the lives lost by drowning at Eagle Point, a small but visible community in the Rio Del section of the border region.

Henry Cuellar, a Democratic Texas congressman summed up the issue with the wall construction.  “A border wall is a 14th-century solution to a 21st-century problem,” the congressman said. “It will not bolster border security in Starr county.”

The issues of security and safety are one of many problems associated with immigration policy, organizers of shelters report from El Paso. Representatives of the top three shelters in the border city reported that they were turning away single adults to prioritize space for children and parents. This is amid the city paying for approximately 1,000 people to stay in area hotels. 

“We’re now at numbers that none of us have ever seen,” said Blake Barrow, who heads up the Rescue Mission El Paso. That shelter is housing more than 250 people each night, including nearly 100 children under the age of 10. 

How can we, people of conscience, help to support humane treatment of those seeking assylum by traveling to the US border?

Some organizations are working around the clock to provide access to legal help, some work to provide basic services in areas of need.

Stay tuned next week in Clear Actions to find out more about how you can help provide a lifeline to these families and promote equitable reforms to immigration policy this fall.