[Peace] [Sign-on Letter] Opposing Biden's 'Smart Wall'

Wed Feb 24 20:02:51 UTC 2021

Dear Peace,

Please consider signing this letter put out by Just Futures Law, Mijente,
and shared by the MediaJustice Network
to President Biden and members of Congress
saying that *A Virtual Wall is the Trump Wall By Another Name.*

I have included the email that was sent to MediaJustice members below.
That email has the text of the letter in it (at the bottom).
That email also has the link to the way to join statement.

The deadline is today, Wednesday, Feb 24, 2021 at the end of the day.
Thank you for considering this.
Sincerely,
Karen Medina
---------- Forwarded message ---------

I wanted to share and invite you to join a sign on letter from our friends
at Just Futures Law, Mijente and others groups.

See Julie's note to me below. Deadline to sign on is TOMORROW.

*Hi Brandon (at MediaJustice Network):*

*Below is the final joint statement. Apologies for the delay as groups in
Texas and South have been dealing with extreme weather. *

*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 :). *

The statement is available here and below:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cAUo72Yx7IR3XhkClyFlMjk5LxBm74NvBR-8dnHsc0w/edit?usp=sharing

To join statement, please fill out this Google form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfE477HgfkWBlxyMUb3eXhPUZIN76D0mFWxmw89LJv37leZjw/viewform?usp=pp_url

The deadline is TOMORROW 2/24 END OF DAY. Thanks for any help that you can
provide!

A Virtual Wall Is Trump’s Wall by Another Name

In response to the provisions of the Biden administration’s U.S.
Citizenship Act of 2021
<https://www.menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/USCitizenshipAct2021BillText.pdf>,
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:

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:

   - At ports of entry [1], increased surveillance technology is concerning
   particularly because of increased biometric collection, which most
   prominently includes expanded facial recognition
   <https://www.biometricupdate.com/202011/us-border-agencys-proposed-biometrics-rule-draws-divided-reactions>
   and DNA collection
   <https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-meet-legal-requirement-collect-dna-samples-certain-populations>,
   as well as experimental technologies like iris scanning
   <https://www.irisid.com/iris-id-products-implemented-at-us-mexico-border-crossing/>
   at pedestrian border crossings. The ongoing DHS build-out of its new HART
   biometric database means that this biometric data will be accessible to
   <https://www.dhs.gov/publication/dhsobimpia-004-homeland-advanced-recognition-technology-system-hart-increment-1>
   major federal law enforcement agencies and some foreign governments via
   information sharing agreements. Additionally, the rapid expansion
   <https://www.nextgov.com/analytics-data/2020/07/customs-expand-license-plate-reading-program-nationwide/166841/>
   of license plate recognition technology used by Customs and Border
   Protection and other federal agencies is a major privacy
   <https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2020-09/OIG-20-71-Sep20.pdf>
   and policing concern.

   - 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] Moreover, individuals
   detected by “smart” border technology are apprehended and incarcerated
   under harsh immigration detention conditions, often in privatized jails
   that President Biden has condemned <https://joebiden.com/immigration/>
   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] The
   technology evaluations in the Biden bill do not provide adequate
   oversight.[4] The bill also authorizes DHS to spend any amount of money
   that it deems necessary, with no cap on spending.[5]

   - 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 Black Lives Matter
   <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/politics/george-floyd-protests-surveillance.html?smid=tw-share>
   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.

We call on the Biden administration to invest in border communities, not
invasive tech and border militarization. Communities along the U.S.-Mexico
border have some of the highest poverty rates
<https://www.texastribune.org/2016/01/19/poverty-prevalent-on-texas-border-low-in-suburbs/>
in the country due to systemic disinvestment
<http://www.ruralhome.org/storage/documents/rpts_pubs/ts10_border_colonias.pdf>.
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 listen to the needs of border
communities
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/16cA0Ix_3bHv-s52zQ121MU7iChu8DlsgokD9IfXhAzM/edit#>,
address ongoing harms, and invest in communities.

Just Futures Law
La Unión Del Pueblo Entero
Mijente
Proyecto Juan Diego
Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network
Rio Grande Valley No Border Wall Coalition
Texas Civil Rights Project
Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC)

[1] DHS has an expansive definition of ports of entry that includes
airports, border crossings, and shipping ports.
[2] Peer-reviewed research on the Arizona border details this harm. Samuel
Norton Chambers, Geoffrey Alan Boyce, Sarah Launius & Alicia Dinsmore
(2019) Mortality,
Surveillance and the Tertiary “Funnel Effect” on the U.S.-Mexico Border: A
Geospatial Modeling of the Geography of Deterrence, Journal of Borderlands
Studies, DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2019.1570861
<https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2019.1570861>. Additionally, Border
Patrol reported
<https://www.borderreport.com/regions/texas/remains-of-more-than-250-migrants-found-along-southern-border-in-2020/>
finding the remains of more than 250 migrants who died along the
U.S.-Mexico border in 2020 alone.
[3]  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 contract
<https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_IDV_70B02C20D00000019_7014> 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. See Transnational Institute, AFSC, and Mijente, “Biden’s
Border,” (Feb. 2021) https://www.tni.org/en/bidensborder.
[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.
[5] US Citizenship Act, S. § 2302(c), 117th Congress (2021)
https://www.menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/USCitizenshipAct2021BillText.pdf
.
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