<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Dear Peace,</div><div><br></div><div dir="ltr">Please consider signing this letter put out by Just Futures Law, Mijente,  <div>and shared by the MediaJustice Network<br>to President Biden and members of Congress </div><div>saying that <b>A Virtual Wall is the Trump Wall By Another Name.</b> <br><br>I have included the email that was sent to MediaJustice members below.</div><div>That email has the text of the letter in it (at the bottom). </div><div><font color="#000000"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">That email also has the link to the way to join statement.</span></font><br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline" style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>The deadline is today, Wednesday, Feb 24, 2021 at the end of the day. </div><div>Thank you for considering this. </div><div>Sincerely,</div><div>Karen Medina<br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div>I wanted to share and invite you to join a sign on letter from our friends at Just Futures Law, Mijente and others groups.   </div><div><br></div><div>See Julie's note to me below. Deadline to sign on is TOMORROW. </div><div><br></div><div><i>Hi Brandon (at MediaJustice Network):</i><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>Below is the final joint statement. Apologies for the delay as groups in Texas and South have been dealing with extreme weather. </i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>We’d love to have MediaJustice and your network join this statement. In fact, the border groups are particularly interested in having tech privacy groups that see border militarization & surveillance through a policing and racial justice perspective :). </i></div><div><br></div><div><div style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT">The statement is available here and below: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cAUo72Yx7IR3XhkClyFlMjk5LxBm74NvBR-8dnHsc0w/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cAUo72Yx7IR3XhkClyFlMjk5LxBm74NvBR-8dnHsc0w/edit?usp=sharing</a> </div><div style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT"><br></div><div style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT">To join statement, please fill out this Google form: <span id="gmail-m_-7904062556005472920gmail-m_-7284031721386319248docs-internal-guid-800cb2f9-7fff-6641-b5c7-d278988ee890"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfE477HgfkWBlxyMUb3eXhPUZIN76D0mFWxmw89LJv37leZjw/viewform?usp=pp_url" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfE477HgfkWBlxyMUb3eXhPUZIN76D0mFWxmw89LJv37leZjw/viewform?usp=pp_url</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">  </span></span></div><div style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT"><br></div><div style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT">The deadline is TOMORROW 2/24 END OF DAY. Thanks for any help that you can provide! </div><div style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT"><br></div><div style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT"><span id="gmail-m_-7904062556005472920gmail-m_-7284031721386319248docs-internal-guid-2546af3a-7fff-84e7-1bd8-4cac1b25fcb5"><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:center;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">A Virtual Wall Is Trump’s Wall by Another Name</span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In response to the provisions of the Biden administration’s </span><a href="https://www.menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/USCitizenshipAct2021BillText.pdf" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, which directs the Department of Homeland Security to deploy surveillance infrastructure and technology along the border, both at and between ports of entry, the following border community, immigrant rights, and privacy organizations issue this statement: </span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This “smart border” surveillance technology is a continuation of the Trump administration’s racist border policies, not a break from it. We applaud President Biden’s efforts to halt Trump’s border wall construction and provide relief to immigrant communities, but protection from deportation and access to due process should not come at the cost of militarization and surveillance. The question cannot continue to be: “How do we more efficiently deter migrants?” Rather than pursue failed strategies, the Biden Administration should invest in border communities, restore areas harmed by wall construction, welcome people seeking safety or a better life, and curtail funding for invasive surveillance technologies. Some of these surveillance harms include:</span></div><br><ul style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="margin-left:15px;list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline">At ports of entry [1],</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> increased surveillance technology is concerning particularly because of increased biometric collection, which most prominently includes expanded </span><a href="https://www.biometricupdate.com/202011/us-border-agencys-proposed-biometrics-rule-draws-divided-reactions" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">facial recognition</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> and </span><a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-meet-legal-requirement-collect-dna-samples-certain-populations" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">DNA collection</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline">, as well as experimental technologies like </span><a href="https://www.irisid.com/iris-id-products-implemented-at-us-mexico-border-crossing/" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">iris scanning</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> at pedestrian border crossings. The ongoing DHS build-out of its new HART biometric database means that this biometric data will be </span><a href="https://www.dhs.gov/publication/dhsobimpia-004-homeland-advanced-recognition-technology-system-hart-increment-1" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">accessible to</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> major federal law enforcement agencies and some foreign governments via information sharing agreements. Additionally, the rapid </span><a href="https://www.nextgov.com/analytics-data/2020/07/customs-expand-license-plate-reading-program-nationwide/166841/" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">expansion</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> of license plate recognition technology used by Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies is a major </span><a href="https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2020-09/OIG-20-71-Sep20.pdf" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">privacy</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> and policing concern.</span></div></li></ul><br><ul style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="margin-left:15px;list-style-type:disc;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Virtual wall technology between ports of entry is not a “humane” alternative to a physical wall. Research shows increased border surveillance technology can lead to more deaths, as migrants take longer, more dangerous routes to avoid detection.[2]</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> Moreover, individuals detected by “smart” border technology are apprehended and incarcerated under harsh immigration detention conditions, often in privatized jails that President Biden has </span><a href="https://joebiden.com/immigration/" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">condemned</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> as inhumane. Furthermore, key companies awarded federal contracts to develop virtual wall technology have deep financial ties to former President Trump and created invasive police surveillance tools.[3]</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> The technology evaluations in the Biden bill do not provide adequate oversight.[4]</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> The bill also authorizes DHS to spend any amount of money that it deems necessary, with no cap on spending.[5]</span></div></li></ul><br><ul style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="margin-left:15px;list-style-type:disc;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The harms of border technology go far beyond the border and disproportionately impact Black, brown, and indigenous communities, as demonstrated by CBP drones deployed on </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/politics/george-floyd-protests-surveillance.html?smid=tw-share" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">Black Lives Matter</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> protesters last summer. Border enforcement policies have long served as a testing ground for military grade surveillance at the border and far into the interior. </span></div></li></ul><br><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:700;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We call on the Biden administration to invest in border communities, not invasive tech and border militarization</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. Communities along the U.S.-Mexico border have some of the </span><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2016/01/19/poverty-prevalent-on-texas-border-low-in-suburbs/" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">highest poverty rates</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> in the country due to </span><a href="http://www.ruralhome.org/storage/documents/rpts_pubs/ts10_border_colonias.pdf" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">systemic disinvestment</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. They have already been the subject of extreme militarization and mass surveillance including interior checkpoints, drones, blimps, mobile and fixed surveillance towers, and other cameras and sensors placed in communities. Instead of pouring billions more into invasive surveillance and military technology that only harms immigrants and enriches private companies, the Biden administration should </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/16cA0Ix_3bHv-s52zQ121MU7iChu8DlsgokD9IfXhAzM/edit#" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">listen to the needs of border communities</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, address ongoing harms, and invest in communities. </span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Just Futures Law </span></div><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">La Unión Del Pueblo Entero</span></div><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Mijente</span></div><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Proyecto Juan Diego  </span></div><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network</span></div><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Rio Grande Valley No Border Wall Coalition</span></div><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Texas Civil Rights Project </span></div><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) </span></div><br></span></div><div style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT">[1] <span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;white-space:pre-wrap">DHS has an expansive definition of ports of entry that includes airports, border crossings, and shipping ports. </span></div><div><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:14.6667px;white-space:pre-wrap">[2] </span></font><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Peer-reviewed research on the Arizona border details this harm. Samuel Norton Chambers, Geoffrey Alan Boyce, Sarah Launius & Alicia Dinsmore (2019)</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Mortality, Surveillance and the Tertiary “Funnel Effect” on the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Geospatial Modeling of the Geography of Deterrence,</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Journal of Borderlands Studies,</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">DOI: </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2019.1570861" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">10.1080/08865655.2019.1570861</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. Additionally, Border Patrol </span><a href="https://www.borderreport.com/regions/texas/remains-of-more-than-250-migrants-found-along-southern-border-in-2020/" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">reported</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> finding the remains of more than 250 migrants who died along the U.S.-Mexico border in 2020 alone. </span></div><div><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">[3] </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> For example, Anduril Industries was founded by major Trump donor Palmer Luckey with funding from Palantir’s Peter Thiel and related funds. The company was awarded a </span><a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_IDV_70B02C20D00000019_7014" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">contract</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> by CBP in July 2020 for a potential $249,550,000 to set up over 200 mobile surveillance towers in border communities; $60.7 million has already been awarded but the remaining money is not obligated. This technology forms the backbone of the new virtual wall. A recent report also shows that border security companies donate more to Democratic Party members than former President Trump. </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">See </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Transnational Institute, AFSC, and Mijente, “Biden’s Border,” (Feb. 2021) </span><a href="https://www.tni.org/en/bidensborder" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(26,115,232);font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://www.tni.org/en/bidensborder</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;white-space:pre-wrap">[4] The Biden bill’s technology evaluation process allows for the deployment of surveillance technologies prior to any evaluation and focuses the assessment on migrant deterrence strategies and cost-efficiencies, not the quality of life of border residents, civil rights abuses by DHS, or migrant safety. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;white-space:pre-wrap">[5] </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">US Citizenship Act, S. § 2302(c), 117th Congress (2021) </span><a href="https://www.menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/USCitizenshipAct2021BillText.pdf" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://www.menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/USCitizenshipAct2021BillText.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">.</span></div></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><img src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1XASrVFAwXWavf-YpqP4dofTqxk4N_DE_&revid=0ByxmcEaOGHw6bTFpQ1F5aUNGNUhIWGVsRG5oVFpNcm9scEFvPQ" width="200" height="60"><br></div></div></div></div></div>

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