"Sarah Towle joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her book "Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands" where she writes about how unwelcoming our government is to...
Valerie Lacarte, Ph.D., Aug. 2024 "The charge that immigrants are taking jobs from U.S.-born Black workers has made its way from conspiracy circles to the broader public conversation this election...
I have some thoughts for the Harris/Walz team, the Supreme Court, Congress, DHS, DOL, and DOJ regarding the border. Please consider subscribing to my free Substack . Comments welcome via Substack,...
Eric Asimov, New York Times, Aug. 27, 2024 (gift article) "Arjav Ezekiel rose through the restaurant ranks becoming a sommelier and opening Birdie’s in Austin, Texas. Few knew of his past...
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana, Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy, National Immigration Project, Aug. 26. 2024 "A coalition of immigrants’ rights groups...
Elizabeth Neumann, Mar. 4, 2021
The author is a senior advisor to the National Immigration Forum on national security matters and a former DHS Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention during the Trump administration.
"National security professionals agree that border security is important for our national security. And there is bipartisan agreement that the current laws that make up our immigration system are broken. This broken system creates vulnerabilities that individuals with criminal or terrorist intent could exploit. But we cannot fix such complex problems simply by building a wall and conjuring up immoral “deterrents” nor by incorrectly categorizing immigrants themselves as the threat.
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) inaugural Homeland Threat Assessment issued in October 2020 inaccurately listed “illegal immigration” as one of the seven major threats facing the United States — placing it alongside such threat actors as cyberattacks by foreign adversaries, foreign and domestic terrorists, and transnational criminal organizations. For individuals not familiar with security terms, it is a common mistake to interchangeably use words such as threat, risk, and vulnerability, but for DHS to make this mistake suggests a political agenda designed to further create fear. This paper explains why labelling immigration a “threat” is both inaccurate and irresponsible.
Each year that passes without meaningful immigration reforms, however, increases our security risk. Finding a path forward requires the Biden administration and the 117th Congress to reject polarized, all-or-nothing arguments and to curb rhetoric that demonizes immigrants and minority communities, as well as their own political opponents.
Leaders should engage instead in a robust and respectful debate based on facts and a transparent acknowledgement of the security vulnerabilities the current system poses. Reform can be done in a way that upholds the rule of law, is consistent with our national security and economic interests, treats everyone with dignity, and values immigrants’ contributions to the success of our nation.
You can read the full paper here."