Diverse organizations form the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2011
CONTACT: Vicki Gaubeca, ACLU-NM Regional Center for Border Rights (575) 527-0664 or [email protected]
SOUTHERN BORDER REGION --  As the government continues to pour more and more resources into border enforcement without providing appropriate accountability and oversight, border communities have borne the brunt of these policies, which have adversely impacted businesses, our residents' civil rights, the environment and international relations.
Today, border organizations and community leaders announced the formation of an unprecedented coalition to assert the rights and interests of the communities that often fall casualty to our country's border policies.
More than six months in the making, the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) has officially launched with more than 60 signatories from San Diego to Brownsville.
"It's critical that we organize and coordinate our voices along the border if we are to have an impact on the national level," states Christian Ramirez of the American Friends Service Committee, one co-chair of the SBCC. The coalition, which is broad-based and includes everything from environmental to faith to business organizations, is based around a formal agreement that identifies the common goals of the parties.
Under the agreement, the parties are focused on four overarching goals: 1. Work to ensure that border enforcement policies and practices are accountable and fair, respect human dignity and human rights, and prevent the loss of life in the region. 2. Promote policies and solutions that improve the quality of life in border communities. 3. Advance a positive image of the border region. 4. Support rational and humane immigration reform policies affecting the border region.
"Many of the organizations in the coalition have been working on these goals already, but now we are intent on coordinating our efforts and taking our work to a new level," stated Jennifer Allen of Border Action Network, the other co-chair of the SBCC. In the coming year, the coalition will focus on developing and deploying a common communication strategy, a coordinated base-building strategy, and a targeted strategy to change enforcement policies and practices that are detrimental to the border region.
The coalition is led by a steering committee representing the four southern border states and co-chaired by Jennifer Allen and Christian Ramirez:
Steering Commitee: California - Christian Ramirez (rep), Andrea Guerrero (alternate); Arizona - Jennifer Allen (rep); Jaime Farrant (alternate); New Mexico - Vicki Gaubeca (rep), Alma Maquitico (alternate); Texas - Mike Seifert (rep), Jazmin Francis (alternate).
A full list of signatories is available at: https://sites.google.com/site/borderstakeholderforum/stakeholders*<https://sites.google.com/site/borderstakeholderforum/stakeholders>

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Today a federal district court judge in New Mexico handed down a great ruling for protesters' rights. Some background is in order: All throughout George W. Bush's presidency, we at the ACLU received complaints from protesters. Time and again, we heard that those wishing to protest against the President Bush's policies, particularly the war in Iraq, were forced to protest far away from him, or behind buildings, or in other places where they would not be seen or heard, while the president's supporters were allowed to stand with their signs where they would be fully visible both to the president and his accompanying media entourage.
In 2007, President Bush traveled to the Albuquerque area to attend a fundraiser. Our clients, individuals and members of two peace organizations wishing to protest the president's policies, were forced to stand 150 yards away from the president's motorcade route, behind officers on horseback, where the president could not possibly see them. Meanwhile, a group of Bush supporters were permitted to stand directly alongside the motorcade route, where their sign, which stated "God Bless George Bush! We pray for you," was in plain sight. The anti-Bush demonstrators were understandably upset that their rare chance to convey their displeasure directly to the president had been squelched.
The ACLU and ACLU of New Mexico took the case. We argued that this discriminatory treatment violated the First Amendment right to free speech. More specifically, we contended that it was a form of viewpoint discrimination. The Supreme Court has written that "the First Amendment forbids the government to regulate speech in ways that favor some viewpoints or ideas at the expense of others." That is what happened when our clients' messages criticizing the president were blocked while. Some of the defendants in the case — a Secret Service agent and a couple of officers from the sheriff's department — asked the judge to terminate our case before it reached a jury.
Today, the district court held that our clients' case deserves to move forward. It held that "First Amendment law forbidding viewpoint-based restrictions on speech was...clearly established at the time of the event and would put a reasonable official on notice that disparate treatment of protesters based on their viewpoint was unlawful." After devoting 20 pages to carefully reviewing the facts, it concluded that a reasonable jury could conclude that law enforcement engaged in viewpoint discrimination.
The case is not over. To win, we will need to convince a jury to believe our clients' story of what happened rather than law enforcement's version. Also, it is possible the defendants will try to appeal at this point. However, today's decision is an important one not just to vindicate the rights of the clients in this case, but to bring home once again that where the rare opportunity arises to express our views directly to our most powerful officials, we all have an equal right to do so, no matter how vehemently we may disagree with them.
-Catherine Crump, National ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project

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