Commissioner David Stout appointed chair of national immigration reform task force

El Paso County Commissioner David Stout was recently named chair of the National Association of Counties’ (NACo) Immigration Reform Task Force, a post he believes will amplify El Paso’s voice on border issues across the nation.

“We’ve got lots of work to do to lead discussions when it comes to immigration and immigration reform on the national level,” Stout said. “El Paso’s perspective is very important in the national conversation."

While NACo was established to support and advocate for counties at the federal level, its Immigration Reform Task Force is tasked with providing a forum for county officials across the nation to discuss the impact of federal immigration policy on local governments and communities, as well as engage with federal decision-makers on matters related to immigration, according to the organization's website.

El Paso County allowed its membership with NACo to lapse in 2008, but Stout pushed for rejoining when he took office in 2014. Since renewing its membership, the county has benefited from $100,000 in NACo grant funding aimed at helping administer American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and a strategic partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which led the way for a local program to address veteran suicides.

“I feel like because of our presence in that organization, we’ve been able to highlight and uplift El Paso’s voice and change the narrative nationally,” Stout said.

NACo’s Immigration Reform Task Force is charged with presenting immigration-related policy positions and resolutions to the national organization to be added to its official platform. Stout believes his experience living along the border has already been an asset.

“Counties have an important role to play in welcoming immigrants and managing issues that may arise, from health and public safety to economic development,” Stout said in a news release. “I’m proud that in El Paso, we have established the Office of New Americans, and are working on community IDs, just to give two examples of El Paso County’s leadership.”

El Paso's Office of New Americans works to integrate immigrants into the community, providing them with opportunities to further their education and launch new businesses and educate them on the benefits of U.S. citizenship. The community ID program was launched as a way to ensure that immigrants, as well as the elderly and homeless population, have access to identification cards in the absence of a state-issued card.

“We’ve really been able to help influence the creation of some of those policies through our work on the task force,” Stout said.

Stout has already started working in his new post and has ideas about what he'd like to accomplish during his tenure at the helm.

"I want to make sure my peers around the country understand the realities of the border," Stout said. "That is the best way to work towards federal policies that treat migrants with dignity and respect. Local decision-makers often simply don’t know enough about the issues and end up relying on national talking points from people who have misrepresented or outright lied about migrants and their impact on our country."

"NACo is a strong organization and I think the White House pays attention to our positions, so I want to use that platform to its fullest effect," he continued. "The challenge will be to get the policies identified by the task force onto the overall NACo policy platform."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Commissioner David Stout chairs national immigration reform task force