Tears at the border

Deadline: today and every day –

On Sunday November 25, Customs and Border Protection officers shot tear gas canisters and rubber bullets into Mexico at refugees approaching the country’s busiest border crossing, which the United States had closed that day. This was a shocking, excessive and unjustified response. Asking for refugee status is not a crime and should not be treated as such.

It’s clear 45 set up the chaos and threw the match. He sent an unprecedented and unnecessary number of troops to the border to defend against unarmed civilians seeking asylum, escalated his inflammatory anti-immigrant and racist tweets, and illegally forced the migrants to remain in Mexico under dangerous conditions, all while their claims were processed at a deliberately slow pace.

Asylum seekers must be permitted to apply for asylum, and must be protected from the atrocities they flee, not be subjected to further brutality and violation of their human and legal rights. Immigration officials, including from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, continue to perpetrate a growing list of atrocities – from family separation and detention of children to family gassing (which the Mad Hatter in the White House unbelievably called “very safe,” blaming the shameful incident on “…parent[s] running up into an area where they know the tear gas is forming…” and speculating that the parents might actually be child-stealing “grabbers” … )

What you can do:

We may be miles away but you can help fight this administration’s barbaric and illegal actions.

Make sure your elected representatives speak out:

Our Members of Congress are standing up! Senator Feinstein issued a statement condemning the administration’s actions, and Senator Harris and East Bay Representatives DeSaulnier, Lee, and Swalwell, have also spoken out publicly.

What you can do now: Make sure your MoCs keep speaking out. Call them frequently: it’s the best way to let them know how important this is to you. What to say:

My name is _____, my zip code is _____, and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. I’m horrified by the growing list of atrocities by immigration officials against refugees, from family separation to family gassing at the border. Thank you for speaking out, and please do all you can to keep funding for ICE and CBP in check, ensure their compliance with inspections, and conduct rigorous oversight.

• Sen. Dianne Feinstein: (email); (415) 393-0707 • DC: (202) 224-3841; 1 Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco CA 94104
• Sen. Kamala Harris: (email); (415) 355-9041 • DC: (202) 224-3553; 333 Bush Street, Suite 3225, San Francisco CA 94104
• Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (email): (510) 620-1000 DC: (202) 225-2095; 440 Civic Center Plaza, 2nd Floor, Richmond, CA 94804
• Rep. Barbara Lee (email): (510) 763-0370 DC: (202) 225-2661; 1301 Clay Street #1000N, Oakland CA 94612
• Rep. Eric Swalwell (email): (510) 370-3322 DC: (202) 225-5065; 3615 Castro Valley Blvd., Castro Valley CA 94546

Hit the streets:

Families Belong Together has called for nationwide protests on Saturday and Sunday, December 1-2. There are several events in the Bay Area at varying times, including in the East Bay:

• Sat. Dec. 1, 9:30 AM: Oakland, Fruitvale Station (near BART entrance), 3401 E 12th St.
• Sat. Dec. 1, 10 AM: San Leandro, Memorial Park, 1105 Bancroft Ave.
• Sat. Dec. 1, 12 PM: El Cerrito, El Cerrito Plaza, 7000 San Pablo Ave.

Enter your zip code at this link to find one near you, then click on the link beneath any of the listed events for further details and to RSVP. And stay tuned for further protests.