http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijfSQ-cR_6Y&feature=youtu.be
Gallup poll data shows Americans consider “Immigration/Illegal aliens” the second-most important non-economic problem facing the country today.
How is this focus on the border and anti-immigrant sentiment that is becoming pervasive in national politics impacting local border communities like El Paso, Texas?
Mexicans streaming across the border illegally, dragging down the US economy and Islamic terrorists plotting attacks from the other side of the border. This is the kind of sentiment that is becoming pervasive in Presidential politics. It pushed proposals to expand a wall along the border and cut federal funding for so called ‘sanctuary cities’.
But El Paso, Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke said this rhetoric often neglects the fact and the opportunities the border presents.
“This fear and anxiety that has been stirred up so successfully does not match the reality that we know on the border- or that we see when we look at Mexico and look at the data.” O’Rourke said
Data
like the 2015 Pew Hispanic research report that showed less than zero migration from Mexico, El Paso’s rank as the safest city in America above 500,000 people…or data showing trade between US and Mexico is responsible for 1 in every 4 jobs in the border city of El Paso.O’Rourke said anti-immigration sentiment is more than simply inaccurate. In border communities like El Paso, he says it affects the quality of life and even shapes political decision-making.
Take the El Paso Municipal I.D. Proposed in 2014, it would allow more than 50,000 El Paso County residents without a formal U.S. ID to be identified by law enforcement and access services like local bank accounts.
Despite a petition signed by more than 10,000 residents supporting the idea… an El Paso City staff report raised fears about the municipal I.D.:
The 2016 report reads:
“There has been legislation filed at both the state and federal level regarding ‘sanctuary cities.’ These bills seek to prohibit local government entities from having policies, ordinances, and rules that prohibit or interfere with the enforcement of immigration laws…”
Border Network for Human Rights Director Fernando Garcia oversaw the municipal I.D. initiative.
“Trump is attacking immigrants and proposing building walls and deporting everybody now the city is going to follow through with that? That is not what the city is supposed to be doing—they need to protect the residents of this city and they need to care for what is happening here and they need to challenge these assertions.” Garcia said.
El Paso County is also considering the municipal I.D. proposal. El Paso County Commissioner David Stout says the I.D. card would also improve access to services for the homeless, some veterans, and transgender people. Stout says the pushback is one example of how everyone in border communities suffers from anti-immigration sentiment elsewhere.
“It hurts us! The rhetoric because it keeps people from wanting to come here, when it comes to tourism, when it come to companies that are maybe looking to relocate some where.” Stout said.
Last year, close to a 1,000 people ran an international 10k race between El Paso and Juarez, Mexico. It is just one project Congressman Beto O’Rourke hopes can draw positive attention to the region and change national perspectives about life on the border.
“We can continue to echo that, share the story of the border, bring people here at least their focus and attention here – so they can see it for themselves, I think the better chance that we are going to see the reality of our lives reflected in national rhetoric and policy and begin to change some of the outcomes for the people I represent , the people who live
here.” O’Rourke said.
The Municipal I.D proposal is still being considered by both the El Paso City and County commissions.
