April 23, 2013 El Paso, Texas

Statement on Boston Attacks and the Need for Immigration Reform from the El Paso County Sheriffs Office and the Border Network for Human Rights
As all of our eyes are on Boston, we extend our most sincere condolences to the victims and their families. At the same time, our deepest gratitude goes out to those who rushed in to help keep others safe and provide the injured with medical treatment. We send our prayers to the citizens of Boston as well as law enforcement officials and thank them for a job well done. Despite the fact that we do not have all of our answers yet, there are those who are seizing on this tragedy as an opportunity to push an agenda to stop immigration reform. We want to set them straight. Immigration reform is important in order to strengthen our national security. This reform will allow individuals and communities to have the confidence to communicate, without fear of being deported, with law enforcement personnel when they have information about criminal activity that would harm our community. Tragic events, such as occurred in Boston, clearly indicate we need to start being rational about border and immigration enforcement strategy. We need an enforcement system that focuses on those real threats that endanger our communitys security, our lives and our rights. We need to be smart about the way we use our nations law enforcement and anti-terrorism resources. No law enforcement agency in the country should operate based on a vision of quantity over quality, as is the case with our current immigration enforcement. Presently, we are pouring billions of dollars into securing vast, hostile desert areas. At the same time, the staffing and resources at our ports of entry have lagged behind. These legal entry points

account for most of the illegal movement of drugs, money, weapons and people into and out of the U.S., and yet they have been left behind in the record breaking spending along the border. As long as these ports are neglected, border economies will be choked off and real threats to national security will slip through the cracks. El Paso is safe because of our immigrant communities with their strong confidence in our local law enforcement institutions. However, we can continue to make even more progress by fixing our broken immigration system that is part of our national security problem. We must include all of our diverse communities, including immigrants, in developing national security solutions. It is fortunate that we can strengthen one system while fixing the other through comprehensive immigration reform. In times like these we remember, in the most difficult moments Americans come together to stand up for whats best about us. We value justice, fairness and lending a helping hand. We reject fear and discrimination. Signed, Sheriff Richard Wiles, El Paso County Fernando Garcia, Executive Director, Border Network for Human Rights