Oregon Senators Join with Republican Minority in supporting $7 Billion Dollar Wall of Shame

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2009

Contact:
Francisco Lopez, Executive Director: (503) 269-5694
Erik Sorensen, Communications Director: (503) 488-0263

Oregon Senators Join with Republican Minority in supporting $7 Billion Dollar Wall of Shame
Salem, Ore--CAUSA, Oregon’s Immigrant Rights Coalition is disappointed in the decision of Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to vote with the Republican minority for a controversial amendment specifying that a 700-mile border “Fence to Nowhere” be completed by the end of 2010.

In a 54-44 vote taken yesterday, Oregon’s two Democratic Senators chose to join forces with the conservative, anti-immigrant minority in supporting the wall of shame along the U.S. southern border.

According to recent polling conducted by the Benenson Strategy Group, more than 85% of Americans support Congress passing just and humane immigration reform, and yet the Senate chooses to play politics.

“How can those who sit in the Senate vote consciously for such a cruel piece of legislation?” asked Francisco Lopez, Executive Director of CAUSA. “Don't they realize how many people have died along the border fences? The US Senate should establish a strategic border enforcement policy that reflects American values, not anti-immigrant right-wing ideology"

It is being reported that the construction of the southern fence will cost Americans over $7 Billion Dollars, causing concerns about its practicality and functionality during a time of great recession in the United States.

In an investigative report aired by PBS’s NOW with David Brancaccio on July 3rd, it was revealed that private contractors are making billions on the border fence that has no chance of working. Not to mention, it has become a nightmare for many homeowners cutting through the middle of some properties, while leaving others untouched. The NOW report added that new technology for a virtual fence has not even been proven to work in the field.

"Those who choose to support enforcement-only schemes are just playing political games with lives and private property and wasting tax-payer dollars", said Lopez. "Comprehensive Immigration Reform that will legalize 12 million undocumented immigrants is the only solution to our nation's broken immigration system and the Senate needs to quit wasting time and money."

CAUSA, Oregon's Immigrant Rights Coalition, is the largest Hispanic civil and human rights and advocacy organization in the Pacific Northwest. For more information, visit www.causaoregon.org

Resources:

Benenson Strategy Group, Recent Polling on Immigration Reform June 2, 2009 http://amvoice.3cdn.net/ea94778f39d6c895c3_zvm6beppq.pdf

Obama's Border Fence, NOW with David Brancaccio, July 3, 2009 http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/527/index.html

Congressional Record, Senate Amendment 1399 Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2009_record&page=S7211&position=all

Posted in: Benenson Strategy Group,Border Fence,Comprehensive Immigration Reform,Fence to Nowhere,Inhumanity,NOW with David Brancaccio,Wall of Shame