The next meeting of this committee will be Thursday, September 8, at 9am on Zoom. The link is in the League calendar. At a recent tour of Friendship Park, I met Tania Mendoza, who takes pictures and interviews people at events there. Many are people who have been deported, have separated families, or have been trying to get into the U.S. At our September meeting, Tania will tell us about some of them and show pictures, as well as update us with the situation at Friendship Park. (Changes have been proposed that would make it difficult or impossible for people to visit each other through Friendship Park's border fence.)
At the committee's August meeting, Eddie Meyer reviewed current legislation in Congress and the work of Congressmember Juan Vargas. After writing a letter to fellow members of Congress asking for a pause in construction of a new (much higher) wall at Friendship Park, the Congressmember is in the process of setting up a meeting of stakeholders to discuss options. Eddie plans to get back to us regarding some Congressional bills with which he was unfamiliar.
Due to recent criminal activity in Baja, we decided not to go there to register expats to vote at the end of August. The uncertainty of the situation may keep us on the U.S. side for a while.
Meanwhile, both the state and national League of Women Voters immigration groups are working on issues at their respective levels. Support for the League’s work on immigration is growing rapidly–come join us at any level.