Statement on DACA Ruling July 2021

On Friday, July 16th, a Texas Federal Judge ruled to partially end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The ruling immediately put a stop to accepting new applicants into the program. Current DACA recipients are still able to continue with their renewals as of now.

The Biden-Harris administration announced that it would appeal the decision. It is up to this administration and Congress to not only fight for DACA, but also go further to ensure more permanent solutions. It is up to all of us to demand it.

The need for solutions goes beyond DACA recipients. For many years, TPS holders, asylum seekers, refugees, and undocumented communities have faced criminalization, exploitation, and discrimination while also navigating unjust immigration laws and processes. Almost 600,000 people have been deported or expelled since January. We are long overdue for laws and policies like a mass amnesty and immigration reform; such proposals could provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million. A pathway to citizenship is a clear next move, and it is going to take powerful organizing to make this happen.

We recognize that pressure on legislators and the administration is needed, yet we also honor the many routes that lead to collective liberation beyond the electoral sphere. Even as we demand a pathway to citizenship, we hold a vision towards a system that has ongoing routes for legal presence; protection for new migrants; an end to all detention, deportation, and border militarization; and an end to violent and destructive US intervention in other countries.

As an organization committed to the worth and dignity of all humans, this ruling is fuel for our continued movement-building education and network building. Borderlinks uplifts the calls to action that folks around the country have put forth in response to this ruling as well as their ongoing work. 

To demand Biden and your representatives in Congress take action and get regular updates from United We Dream, text “Pathway” to 877-877. 

Here are some ways you can join efforts and connect to resources:

Familia:Trans Queer Liberation Movement

Detention Watch Network

Sanctuary Movement

Cosecha Movement

Never Again Action

United We Dream

America's Voice

Mijente

Raices

Adelante,

The BorderLinks Team

Upcoming Workshops—July 2021

We have four upcoming virtual workshops this July that are now open for registration! You can follow the links below to register and feel free to share with others who may be interested.

Legal Immigration Simulation Workshop:

Using a new, creative, interactive virtual platform, the Legal Immigration Simulation is a workshop that gives participants a simulated experience of navigating the legal system as potential immigrants. It is designed to be a tool for responding to the frequently asked question, “Why don’t all migrants enter legally?"

WORKSHOP 1: July 7, 2021, 1:00-3:00PM PT/4:00-6:00PM ET

WORKSHOP 2: July 21, 2021, 3:00-5:00PM PT/6:00-8:00PM ET

Immigration History Timeline Workshop:

The Immigration History Timeline workshop examines U.S policies historically which have both directly and indirectly influenced immigration and migration, and how this correlates with current events. This workshop allows for a deeper discussion around the root causes of migration, as well as who benefits from the current system of enforcement and laws. Special attention is paid to how U.S. policies have in particular influenced the U.S/Mexico borderlands.

WORKSHOP 1: July 14, 2021, 1:00-3:00PM PT/4:00-6:00PM ET

WORKSHOP 2: July 26, 2021, 3:00-5:00PM PT/6:00-8:00PM ET

Registration is limited for each workshop so we encourage you to reserve your spot ASAP.

Note: All four workshops are standalone.

BorderLinks Announces its Organizational Acuerdos

In developing and sharing our Organizational Acuerdos, BorderLinks wants to create room for people to better understand who we are. We honor the messy, beautiful process through which we arrived and commit to vulnerability and accountability.

Even with our strong roots in justice, we were a historically white, institutional/academically-focused organization with barriers to participation. We’ve deliberately ungrounded some of these harmful barriers. We have become more represented by those most impacted within the Tucson community, in who we are and how we orient as a social movement organization. Some areas where we’ve made changes include adopting a shared leadership model, improving compensation, deepening mutual relationships with community partners, establishing a community fund, and more. There are still areas of growth and improvement. We commit to anti-oppression. We center those with lived experience.

Acuerdos are our values in action; they are our agreements with each other and our wider community.

CENTER TRANSFORMATIVE, POPULAR PEDAGOGY

• Believe in the transformational power of popular pedagogy.

• Learn from and teach one another; each sharing our own ideas, wisdom & experience.

• Be open to reflection. Be constantly unsettled; ruffling feathers is part of the process.

• Cultivate consciousness of where power resides and settles. Education is not neutral. 

• Invite and welcome radical curiosity, holding space for the messiness of revolutionary work. 

• Hold radical acceptance and love for the fact that not everyone is where we are. We are on a journey together.

ACT THROUGH ACCOUNTABILITY TO MOVEMENTS FOR MIGRANT JUSTICE AND COLLECTIVE LIBERATION

• Ground our work internally and externally towards collective liberation. Practice continuity between the means and the ends.

• Practice radical hospitality, use humanizing language and respect each others’ identities.

• Respect other people's experiences, stories, and boundaries.

• Put sincere and honest reflection into our workplace and interpersonal decisions.

• Honor our commitments and practice accountability. 

• Celebrate when we or our movement partners experience successes and wellbeing either in the moment or in doing the value-driven work that will bring benefit.

MOVE AT THE SPEED OF TRUST*

• Look for ways to create, build, reestablish, and express trust through practicing our values in our day-to-day actions. It takes time to rebuild trust. 

• Approach mistakes, failures, and conflict as opportunities for growth. Own our part of the problem, and make amends.

• Commit to working on conflict transformation across the organization.

• Be courageous with hard conversations.

• Allow our vulnerability to be seen. Bring our whole selves to the space - successes and fears.

• Let our work together be a source of renewal!

COMMUNICATE WITH TRANSPARENCY

• Communicate clearly, openly, and honestly.

• Cultivate and nurture information loops that are transparent and inform our collective action, while upholding confidentiality where appropriate. Understanding our context and reasoning allows for more buy-in from all.

• Give honest feedback and constructive reactions to keep issues from getting bigger than they should.

• Engage with reflection and evaluative processes to hold us to account in our respective spheres.

• Use tools of power wisely.

• Operate with distinction between operations and governance. Continue to develop clarity around common understandings of roles and responsibilities.

PRACTICE SELF AND COMMUNITY CARE IN RELATIONSHIPS

• Create sustained, meaningful, mutual relationships with community partners, program participants, donors, and volunteers.

• Respect and support each other, both as individuals and for each person's contributions to our work together.

• Remember that self and community care is more important than our productivity.

• Show enthusiasm for each other's needs and passions outside work.

• Try to be flexible with needs that arise as individuals and as an organization.

• Do our best to bring helpful, positive, and grace-giving attitudes with each other and our work.

GROW TOWARDS COLLECTIVE, HORIZONTAL STRUCTURES OF POWER 

• Practice shared learning, shared decision-making and shared responsibility through our co-leadership model and throughout our organization. Understand power as collective.

• Practice horizontal, non-hierarchical power structures such as seeking consensus in decisions, while recognizing some existing power dynamics can't just be switched off.

• Create a space of freedom for staff to do their work.

• Maintain consciousness of differences in lived experiences, including traumas. Pay attention to power dynamics and systems at play.

• Embrace the value and responsibility of our Board beyond fundraising, as they generate various resources – financial, educational, etc., and give in a capacity that is personally significant.

• Practice philanthropic diversity: Accept & value gifts at any level, treating all donations/ contributions with respect.

*The idea of "moving at the speed of trust" has been popularized by adrienne maree brown in their book Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds (2017).

Other sources of inspiration: 

• Southerners on New Ground Agreements and Beliefs & Strategies

• Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Organizing Collective Working Agreements

• Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) by Paulo Freire

These acuerdos were created on January 23, 2021 by our staff and board. This is a living document, to be revisited periodically.

The Election is Over… Now what?

BorderLinks celebrates with the majority of the country (and many, many international allies) the clear results of the 2020 election to end the disastrous reign of the current Administration. It is heartening and inspiring to witness the fruits of the hard work and organizing efforts of grassroots communities, unions, faith organizations, and BIPOC community members to ensure that as many voices as possible were heard, seen and most importantly, counted. There is much to celebrate: the first female and POC Vice-President, historic voter turnout, and the undeniable validation of the fact that BIPOC communities are the ones that ensured the defeat of one of the most destructive and cruel Administrations that has ever held power in the United States. The BorderLinks family is taking a moment to celebrate and bask in the glow of victory.

So, what next? Well, put simply: now we get back to work.

The heart of BorderLink’s work has always centered on affecting systemic change through education and holding space for directly affected communities. This work will be more important than ever as we see the potential opportunity to make real change if the new Administration makes good on its word to right some of the injustices that have been seen on the border for nearly four years. Border voices and stories must be amplified now more than ever. The work of undoing the harm that has been done must begin with the understanding of the root causes of migration, the history of systemic racism and white supremacy in our (im)migration system, and the need for all people of conscience to come together to demand systemic change.

This is the work of BorderLinks. Our staff continues to stand on the front line of fighting against the onslaught of racism, xenophobia, and general bigotry of the last four years. In the past two years alone, BorderLinks staff has educated at least a 1,000 people from across the country. Those people went on to organize and conduct countless community actions. The community organizers that have been trained by BorderLinks have been inspired to continue the fight in their own communities. This is how we create meaningful and systemic change.

So, with all of this in mind, BorderLinks encourages you to take some time to celebrate the historic moment in which we find ourselves. Practice self-care, breathe, and be gentle with yourself. And when you are ready, we invite you to stand up and join us in our continued fight for border justice.

Our Leadership Model Has Changed!

BorderLinks is living into its values of collaboration and community by transitioning from a traditional hierarchical leadership structure to a new model, in which three Co-Directors share responsibility for leading the organization. Instead of an Executive Director, the new model includes a Director of Education, Director of Administration & Development, and Director of Operations, each responsible to each other and the Board of Directors as well as to their own departments.

This transition has been largely driven by BorderLinks staff, who saw that their highly collaborative work and the organization’s leadership structure were out of sync.

BorderLinks also owes a debt of gratitude to Adela C. Licona who, while serving as Interim Director after the departure of the Executive Director, simultaneously worked with Staff and Board as a consultant during the leadership transition process, which culminated in the current model.

BorderLinks Co-Directors, Staff, and Board are proud and excited about our shared leadership model! Although currently only two of the three Co-Directors are in place (Directors of Amin. & Development and Education), the last piece of the puzzle, the hiring of a Director of Operations, which has been postponed as BorderLinks works to get back up to speed during the pandemic, will undoubtedly strengthen the organization even further.