Vice President Harris: To Prioritize the Safety and Well-Being of Immigrants Arriving at the Border, We Must Divest From CBP

Washington, DC — Today, President Biden announced that Vice President Harris will be leading the White House’s response to immigration at the southern border. The President and Vice President met with DHS Secretary Mayorkas and Secretary Becerra from Health and Human Services (HHS) today to discuss the number of immigrant children who have arrived at the border in recent weeks.

The Defund Hate Coalition issued the following statement:

“During her time as a Senator, Vice President Harris was a fierce champion in calling attention to the cruel and inhumane conditions immigrant families and children have faced under our country’s immigration system. The Defund Hate Coalition welcomes today’s news and remains hopeful that Vice President Harris will use this moment as an opportunity to direct resources and funding towards supporting the safety and humanity of all immigrants. 

As the past four years alone have shown us, the billions of dollars that have been poured into Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have only funded a record of countless abuses against immigrant communities. CBP, like ICE, has operated with impunity to target and harm immigrants. As of last week, more than 5,000 children were being held in CBP custody, 600 of whom were there for longer than 10 days. No one should be held in these facilities. 

As a necessary step towards ending the atrocities and injustices that happen under CBP’s watch, Vice President Harris must ensure that no additional funding is allocated for this agency and that instead the administration invests in community resources and services rooted in keeping families together. We have the resources and moral capacity to welcome immigrants with dignity and create a system that treats everyone with the humanity they deserve. Now is the time to lead with these values.”

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The #DefundHate campaign, composed of organizations representing directly impacted communities, faith leaders, and civil rights and immigrant rights advocates, is committed to divestment from agencies that tear apart our families and terrorize our communities. For too long, our representatives have said they care about our communities while simultaneously funding aggressive immigration enforcement and deadly immigration jails. They must be held accountable to keep their promises and stand with the immigrant community. We call on our members of Congress to say no and vote against wasting taxpayer dollars on an abusive and deadly immigration enforcement system. Instead, we want our tax dollars used to strengthen our families and communities by investing in education, housing, nutrition and health care programs that provide opportunity and increase well-being.