Border Action Network, along with Promise Arizona and Mi Familia Vota, issued this open letter in a press release today inviting U.S. Senators Charles Schumer, Dick Durbin, Robert Menendez Michael Bennet, Lindsey Graham, and Marco Rubio:

Esteemed Senators, Charles Schumer, Dick Durbin, Robert Menendez, Michael Bennet, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio,

On behalf of a number of community-based border organizations in Southern Arizona, Border Action Network would like to invite you on a community tour of the border. Border Action Network represents a diverse and richly complex community, whose roots find themselves on both sides of the United States and Mexican border. We hope you will take the time to learn about our community in the interest of comprehensive immigration reform, we would be grateful to be part of the conversation.

The arms of our network are responsible for advocating for immigrant populations, as well as providing on-the-ground humanitarian assistance along the border. From our work on the ground, we are able to bring a local, community-based perspective of the border. It has been our experience that while the Border Patrol can be attentive to some of the necessary subject matter; they aren’t able to attend to the full scope of the region when giving border tours. Our associations with Mi Familia Vota, Promise Arizona and Humane Borders Death Mapping Project, we are able to provide a balanced and comprehensive picture of the border that well compliments the Border Patrol’s perspective. We would appreciate being able to show you the desert and communities in and around Douglas, Nogales, Tucson, Yuma and Phoenix.

We welcome you to our border communities and thank you for taking the time to visit Southern Arizona. It is our hope that you will return and visit with our community and supporting community organizations. We feel it is essential to compliment your tour with the Border Patrol. We are aware that scheduling for these events can be difficult but we promise you we will be flexible, we look forward to an opportunity to present a well-rounded picture of our communities and our border.

We know you take the task of Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation very seriously, we want you to know, we in Southern Arizona communities do too. It is not just legislation, it is our lives. We know you will work for fair and compassionate immigration reform

Sincerely,
Border Action Network
Promise Arizona
Me Familia Vota

This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2013.

5 replies on “Hey, US Senators, Thanks for Visiting, How About a Tour?”

  1. Yes! These men who “represent” us don’t seem to want to know what we think, what we see, what we are concerned about. A real tour would include Border Patrol as only one piece of the information.

  2. Elected officials rarely make true fact-finding tours to the border. More often they take part in dog and pony shows that are more of a photo opportunity than an effort to learn about actual conditions.

  3. This country has been going down hill for a long time, thanks to those who were allowed to cross our borders, settle in our communities yet their hearts and minds are still not part of this country. Simple reform…enforce the laws…

  4. McCain is a good example, he came to the border to shot a TV spot saying build the dang fence. That’s the last time we saw him. He canceled a town hall meeting last week in Oro Valley. I wonder why?

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