Border Policy: Addressing the Root Causes of Hunger and Immigration
We urge Congress to embrace smarter immigration and border enforcement policy.
Bread for the World recognizes immigration to be a hunger issue on both sides of the border. We call on Congress to take a comprehensive approach, one that welcomes the migrant and addresses the underlying causes of undocumented immigration. Not only would this be the moral thing to do but it also makes fiscal sense.
Even though the United States spends more than $11 billion on border enforcement annually, thousands of new undocumented immigrants arrive every year.
This level of spending on border enforcement, including personnel, has had minimal impact on curtailing undocumented immigration and has come at a high economic and human cost. Data from the Department of Homeland Security, for instance, shows that known migrant deaths have nearly doubled over a decade.
We urge Congress to embrace smarter immigration and border enforcement policy. This should include funding for programs that address push factors of migration from Central America; a reasonable pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants; and effective oversight and accountability of border enforcement practices and personnel, in any border enforcement funding bill.
Border patrol funding is nearly 17 times more than aid support for Central America
Tools
from our Resource Library
For Education
U.S. Hunger and Poverty State Fact Sheets
These fact sheets provide a snapshot of hunger and poverty in the United States and in each state plus Washington, D.C.
Fact Sheet: Fortified for Life. How the U.S. Government Supports Global Nutrition.
Good nutrition is a critical part of ensuring that all human beings can use their bodies and minds to live an active life and reach their full potential.
Fact sheet: Why are families leaving Central America?
People who make the decision to leave home and come to the United States generally have few other options. Factors beyond their control have made their circumstances too hungry and violent for them to remain.
For Faith
Unity Declaration on Racism and Poverty
A diverse body of Christian leaders calls on the churches and Congress to focus on the integral connection.
Dear Members of Congress,
As the president and Congress are preparing their plans for this year, almost 100 church leaders—from all the families of U.S. Christianity—are...
In Times Like These … A Pan-African Christian Devotional for Public Policy Engagement
This devotional guide invites deepened relationship with and among Pan-African people and elected leaders in the mission to end hunger and poverty.
Sermon by David Beckmann at Duke University Chapel
Remarks delivered October 1, 2017 at Duke University Chapel in Chapel Hill in North Carolina.
Thank you for inviting me to preach here at Duke University Chapel. And I especially want to thank the Bread for the World members who have come this morning.
Bruce Puckett urged...
For Advocacy
U.S. Hunger and Poverty State Fact Sheets
These fact sheets provide a snapshot of hunger and poverty in the United States and in each state plus Washington, D.C.
Fact Sheet: Hunger by the Numbers
In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal.
Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017
Unnecessarily long prison sentences, combined with the lack of rehabilitative programs for people in prison, exacerbate hunger, poverty, and existing inequalities.
Overly harsh mandatory minimum prison sentences have contributed to the rapid increase of our country’s prison population. The...