LAS CRUCES, NM – On Tuesday, June 4th, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Tuesday that would allow for him to partially suspend asylum requests at the U.S. – Mexico border. 

Deterrence measures that have been attempted or implemented by past administrations have failed, and they will continue to fail. The Biden administration continues to ignore those failed lessons from its past predecessors.

There has been a historic disregard for those of us that live, breathe, and dwell along this border. Nobody asks our people or in general those who are directly impacted by ever changing immigration and border policies what they need or what they want for a cohesive humanitarian response to the border militarization on the U.S. side of the border.

There continues to be a significant disconnect between our southwest border communities and those on the East Coast in Washington D.C.; who continue to make punitive decisions without thinking about who it’s truly going to affect. We bet that most elected officials in Washington D.C. don’t even know about the in-state border patrol checkpoints in Southern New Mexico that continue to racially profile and impact the ability of our people to move about freely here on a daily basis. 

NM CAFe’s values are those of compassion and dignity. With every individual we meet, we greet and approach them with these values. The actions of the Biden administration and our elected officials who claim to represent the best interests of Southern New Mexico, are not approaching policies or executive orders with those values of compassion and dignity.

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*NM Comunidades en Acción y de Fe (CAFe) is a community- based organization in Southern New Mexico committed to building  power with and for New Mexicans who have been directly impacted by systems of injustice. The non-partisan 501c3 organization is a part of Faith in Action, the largest faith-based community organization in the country.*