Statement of International Union of Police Associations re: Southern Border Security
The International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO is comprised of more than 110,000 active-duty, rank and file law enforcement officers and emergency medical personnel across this great nation as well as in the U.S. Territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Many of our members serve the border states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. We wholeheartedly support the efforts of this administration to secure our southern border.
We find it hypocritical that the very people who supported immigration reform and border security in the past under different administrations are now suddenly opposed to it. Most of those opposed have been serving as elected representatives for years and have made no progress in immigration reform. These elected public servants now fight efforts to accomplish what they have so long neglected.
We are a nation of immigrants. We recognize and applaud the contributions that people of all nationalities have brought, and continue to bring to this country. We have an effective and reasonable immigration protocol that ensures that those entering our country are able to succeed and flourish. We are also a nation of laws, and to ignore the established steps to come to this great nation and sneak into this country in violation of those statutes, does not make these persons “undocumented” immigrants or “victims”, but simply illegal immigrants.
Without any disincentives, caravans of uninformed and ill-prepared immigrants travel from Central America and unfortunately are victimized along their route. Human traffickers and rapists take advantage of these conditions and further terrorize and victimize these travelers. Illness and lack of medical care is also a factor in their victimization. It is truly a humanitarian disaster, caused not by border security, but by the lack of it as well as the false hope that brings to these desperate people.
As this is occurring, hundreds of illegal aliens are sneaking across the border putting an unbearable strain on public resources like schools, hospitals and our penal system.
We believe that the vast majority of these aliens are good people simply looking for opportunity, but without control, we also recognize that gang members, narcotics traffickers and other criminal enterprises are taking advantage of our relatively open borders while exploiting entry to America.
This must stop.
Tens of thousands of our citizens are being killed by tons of deadly, toxic drugs. Vicious gangs, such as MS13 now have taken root in areas far removed from the border, bringing their deadly terror with them into once peaceful communities. In the past two years, our Immigration officers have made more than a quarter of a million arrests of criminal aliens for assaults, sex crimes, and murders.
Virtually everything on this earth worth protecting has erected some sort of protective barrier to protect it, from the Vatican to Dodger Stadium to the very estates of those who decry such barriers.
And as this is going on, many jurisdictions have stopped cooperating with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, putting the interests of illegal aliens above the welfare of their own citizens. It is sheer madness and clearly illustrates the astuteness of “Poe’s Law”.
On this matter, I.U.P.A. President Sam A. Cabral stated, “We are certain that this matter will not be resolved in the near future, but will be entangled in litigation until likely decided by SCOTUS. That day cannot come soon enough.”
Originally chartered in 1979, the International Union of Police Associations is the only chartered labor union that exclusively represents law enforcement personnel. The more than 110,000 law enforcement personnel represented by the I.U.P.A. are all full time employees of law enforcement agencies ranging from line officers up to first line supervisors as well as civilian employees. The I.U.P.A.’s mission is to protect and advance officers’ wages, benefits, and work conditions. Membership includes officers from agencies throughout the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. More information is available at www.iupa.org.
