Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas’s Oct. 31 op-ed, “Congress must bring border security into the 21st century,” made a critical point: Budgets are moral documents that show the world what we value.
For decades, the U.S. budget has shown that this country values militarization, surveillance, deportation and incarceration over real community needs, such as health care, education and housing. Instead of making people more safe, bolstering Customs and Border Protection has enabled the agency to commit more abuse, trauma and misappropriation of funds. CBP’s record has proved that there is no such thing as “safe and humane border enforcement.” Last year was the deadliest year for migrants in the southern border regions ever recorded by the government.
