Jason,
If we want to make real progress and achieve actual change then we can't just say what we're against, we have to say what we're for.
As Donald Trump pushes for a 2,000-mile wall on our southern border and spreads lies about immigrants, it's on us to offer something better. That's why Beto outlined ten essential immigration, border, and bilateral policies that match the reality on the ground and reflect our values as a country.
Can you sign your name in support of Beto's ten points below? We want to show how many people are with us on this kind of positive, ambitious, values-based vision for immigration policy.
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- Extend citizenship to the more than one million Dreamers in this country. Not only those who are in our classrooms but those who are teaching in our classrooms; those who are keeping our country safe around the world tonight; those who contribute more to our communities than they'll ever take.
- Give permanent legal protection and a path to citizenship to their parents, the original Dreamers.
- Bring millions more out of the shadows and on a path to citizenship by ensuring that they register with the government and gain status to legally work, pay taxes and contribute even more to our country's success.
- Make us safer and more secure. Significantly reduce illegal drug trafficking and stop human trafficking by investing in infrastructure, technology and personnel at our ports of entry. The ports that connect us with Mexico are where the vast majority of everything and everyone that ever comes into our country crosses.
- Increase the visa caps so that we match our opportunities and needs (for work, for education, for investment, for innovation, for family reunification) to the number of people we allow into this country. Ensure that those who want to work in jobs that we can't fill can legally come here and legally return to their home country.
- Fully accept our opportunity and responsibility under our asylum laws to welcome those whose own governments can no longer protect them — including women fleeing abusive relationships.
- Address visa overstays (which accounts for the majority of undocumented immigration) through better tracking of and notification to visa holders (a first step could be text message reminders) and fully harmonizing our entry-exit systems with Mexico and Canada (when a visa holder exits the U.S. and enters Mexico, we will then know that they have left the U.S.; currently, if they leave through a land port of entry we literally have no clue if they are still here or have returned to their country of origin).
- Make Latin America and specifically Central America a top foreign policy priority — stop relegating it to second-tier status — invest the time, talent and resources to assist in the development of the domestic institutions that will allow these countries to thrive and offer their citizens protection and economic opportunity. It is the only long-term solution to the number of asylum seekers and refugees coming to this country.
- End the global war on drugs. An imprisonment- and interdiction-first approach has not worked, has accelerated the erosion of civil society in much of Latin America and has militarized a public health issue to the detriment of all concerned.
- Speak with respect and dignity when referring to our fellow human beings who happen to be immigrants and asylum seekers, who in so many cases are doing exactly what we would do if presented with the same threats and opportunities. No more "invasions", "animals", "rapists and criminals", "floods", "crisis" — dehumanizing rhetoric leads to dehumanizing policies. We cannot sacrifice our humanity in the name of security — or we risk losing both.
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After you've added your name, we want you to share these ideas with as many people as possible. Forward the email, or share the sign-on page on social media.
Together, we will get past the lies and fear. We'll put forth policies that focus on the facts, and dignify the humanity of every person living here. And in the end, we will have a stronger, safer, more successful country.
Thanks for signing on in support of Beto's 10 points today.
- Team Beto
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