Thread by @BetoORourke

We’ve conflated the war on terror, the war on drugs, with immigration. This has led to mass deportations & militarization at a time of record safety on the U.S. border. False fear is cynically stoked to harm those who pose no threat to this country. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

“With the passage of the Patriot act in late 2001, the number of deportations increased again and reached nearly 400,000 in 2009. None of the terrorist attacks involved Mexicans, and none of the terrorists entered through Mexico...all came to the united States on legal visas.”

“Yet, Mexicans nonetheless bore the brunt of the deportation campaign launched in the name of the war on terrorism, comprising 72 percent of those removed in 2009.”

And, by the way, none of this stuff has worked. As the border became more militarized, and deadlier, immigrants stopped returning to their home countries. In effect, this policy actually increased the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

Not only that, but walls and militarization of the border have resulted in the deaths of thousands of migrants, including children. We are pushing desperate families to cross in ever more hostile terrain. We are ensuring greater suffering and death.
propublica.org/article/why-do…

This cynical rhetoric of war, of invasions, of fear — totally disconnected from the truth — has led us to treat our fellow humans in the most inhumane way. And it hasn’t made us safer. We thought we could sacrifice some of our humanity for security, we risk losing both.