Las Cruces, NM - Congregations along with the faith-based group, NM CAFé, are expressing their disappointment with Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM) for his role today in a subcommittee hearing falsely implying that the new Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument will negatively impact border security.
“Unfortunately Representative Pearce and his surrogates such as Sheriff Todd Garrison continue to waste taxpayer dollars with false claims that the new national monument will hinder law enforcement, cause illegal immigration, and threaten our community’s safety,” said Sarah Nolan, NM CAFé’s executive director. “The facts and statements from U.S. Customs and Border Protection prove otherwise. Instead of trying to scare people about our community’s ‘security,’ Representative Pearce should be using his time in Congress to address real problems his constituents face and come up with real solutions.”
President Obama designated the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in May in response to a multi-year community effort to protect these highly-valued public lands. At the same time, community groups working hard to pass immigration reform have been faced with gridlock from a small but vocal group of Republicans in Congress, including Rep. Pearce.
“We have been telling Representative Pearce for over a year that we need immigration reform and he has been one of the main obstacles. Recently, he said he opposes using an additional $4 billion to deal with the humanitarian crisis of mostly children at our borders,” said DREAMer and youth organizer Laura Leyva. “Yet he is perfectly content to waste time and tax dollars on a subcommittee hearing about ‘border security’ masked to undermine the community-supported effort to protect the Organ-Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. It is clear to us that Rep. Pearce would rather engage in misleading rhetoric than get serious about solving the problems his district faces.”