Border Wall Information

The residents of the Rio Grande Valley are overwhelmingly against the construction of a border wall. We already have an existing border wall which has been unnecessary (the amount of immigration is at an all-time low; terrorists, drugs and other threats to our nation's well-being come through the border across bridges (smuggled in) or through our northern border. 

There are currently (December, 2018) more than sixty miles of border wall that is presently in place. This construction causes flooding, pushes immigrants into more dangerous crossing areas (remember that most immigrants are young families seeking to surrender to Border Patrol), and really only benefits human smugglers.

As this is such a lucrative project, semantics to confuse people are a part of the game.  Senator Schumer seems to think that border "fencing" is fine. This is what the border "fence" looks like:

Some background material:

Most complete:

ACLU and partners' report (Sept. 2018), DEATH, DAMAGE, AND FAILURE: Past, Present, and Future Impacts of Walls on the U.S.-Mexico Border, https://www.aclu.org/report/death-damage-and-failure

also:

https://www.sierraclub.org/texas/lower-rio-grande-valley/border-wall

1) Study regarding the economic impacts of nature tourism in the Rio Grande Valley:  https://www.fws.gov/uploadedfiles/naturereport-mcallencvb-2011_508.pdf, and also a powerpoint with a map and good pictures:  https://www.ibwc.gov/Files/CF_LRG_Eco_Impact_tourism_10102012.pdf

(2) Catholic Bishop of Brownsville Daniel Flores' statement on CBP requests for right of entry:  https://media.kveo.com/nxsglobal/rgvproud/document_dev/2018/10/29/10.29.18%20Statement%2C%20Right%20of%20Entry_1540825378884_60595187_ver1.0.pdf  

("While the bishop has the greatest respect for the responsibilities of the men and women involved in border security, in his judgment church property should not be used for the purposes of building a border wall. Such a structure would limit the freedom of the Church to exercise her mission in the Rio Grande Valley, and would in fact be a sign contrary to the Church’s mission. Thus, in principle, the bishop does not consent to use church property to construct a border wall.")

(3) National Butterfly Center 100-Mile Zone lawsuit:  https://reason.com/blog/2017/12/13/a-strange-lawsuit-about-butterflies-shed

+ recent coverage: "New Border Wall Will Destroy Butterfly Center, Historic Chapel, and Texas State Park," https://theintercept.com/2018/11/09/new-border-wall-will-destroy-butterfly-center-texas-state-park/

(4) Recent articles on flooding and endangered species:

"Trump’s Border Wall Could Cause Deadly Flooding in Texas. Federal Officials Are Planning to Build It Anyway": https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/trumps-border-wall-cause-deadly-flooding-texas-federal-officials-planning-build-anyway/

+  https://www.texasobserver.org/the-texas-mexico-border-wall-comes-with-a-dangerous-costly-side-effect-flooding/

"Trump's Border Wall Could Decimate These Rare Species": https://www.texasobserver.org/trumps-border-wall-could-decimate-these-rare-species/

(6) Compilation of no-wall resolutions from border communities:  https://noborderwalls.org/opposition/

Brownsville Walmart, Nov 4 2018

Concertina Wire

Border Wall Shenanigans

This is a proposed letter to CBP to be sent out on Monday. For your information on the trickery involved:

November 6, 2018

Mr. Paul Enriquez
Environmental Branch Chief
Border Patrol Facilities and Tactical Infrastructure
Program Management Office
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20229

Dear Mr. Enriquez:

We write in response to the September 6, 2018, notice to “Whom It May Concern” regarding the construction of a levee/border wall system in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. We incorporate by reference and reattach the comments submitted by 32 organizations, dated August 3, 2018. We appreciate the extension of time granted for the submission of these comments until November 6, 2018. We were shocked and dismayed, however, that the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security chose to issue a waiver of numerous federal laws in the middle of this very comment period. It is particularly ironic that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) utilized this unprecedented authority to waive all laws for a proposed project that has as its ostensible purpose upholding the rule of law.

In the webinar hosted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on October 30, 2018, CBP’s speaker repeatedly claimed that the Environmental Stewardship Plans (ESPs) that would be prepared for construction of border wall in the Rio Grande Valley were “meeting the same intent as NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act)”, that ESPs “look exactly like EAs (environmental assessments), and that ESPs “mirror” what’s in an environmental impact statement (EIS). All of these statements are incorrect. As stated in the Council on Environmental Quality’s regulations implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA, alternatives are “the heart of the environmental impact statement” 40 C.F.R. § 1502.14. Further, whether in the context of an EIS or an EA, NEPA requires agencies to “study, develop and describe appropriate alternatives to recommended courses of action in any proposal which involves unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of available resources” 42 U.S.C. § 4332(E). Yet the CBP officials who presented information during the webinar were clear that there would no alternatives in the ESP and even said that the “alternative of no barrier is not an option,” indicating that there would be no consideration of alternatives whatsoever.

Further, as you know, the public normally has a minimum of 45 days to comment on an EIS, 40 C.F.R. § 1506.10 (c) and the NEPA procedures for the Department of Homeland Security generally provide for public involvement in EAs. Instruction Manual 023-01-001-01, Revision 01, Section V(C). However, in response to questions about an opportunity to review draft ESP(s), the public was told that there would be no review of draft ESPs. In fact, it sounds as though the ESPs will not even be available to the public until they are final.

This lack of alternatives and public comment makes a mockery of any assertion that this ESP could be the “equivalent” of an EIS or meet the same intent.   Rather than actually informing a decision on how best to carry out CBP’s responsibilities in the RGV, the ESP serves to document the impacts of a decision already made. Further, there is no assurance that the impact analysis will be sound, including, critically, a study of the cumulative effects of the border wall along with other past, present and reasonably foreseeable actions impacting the communities, wildlife and lands of this unique landscape. Rather, it appears that these impacts will receive, at best, superficial consideration in the absence of compliance with the full panoply of laws that would normally apply to a proposal of this magnitude.

Finally, we note that CBP has rejected our request for public meetings or forums in the RGV in favor of the webinar. While we appreciate the ability to ask questions during the webinar, the information presented was replete with vagueness and full of generalities. Specific questions about tribal consultation, structures impacted, and the continued operation and access to nature areas were not answered. It is impossible for the public to provide thoughtful comments when CBP’s plans remain unarticulated and detailed maps of the proposed project have not been released. Also, we note that there are no forums in which questions can be addressed in Spanish, despite the fact that there is a large Spanish speaking population in the affected communities. CBP’s two webinars were no substitute for public outreach.

For these and other reasons, we request that the waiver of laws be withdrawn and that CBP initiate full compliance with all laws applicable to the proposed border wall construction. This would give CBP the much-needed time to study and understand the wide range of concerns with the project, actively engage with and obtain meaningful input from the public, and consider alternatives to the project that are far less expensive and less harmful to communities and wildlife in the Rio Grande Valley.

Court Watch Material

We have a citizens’ group here in Brownsville that with the support of the ACLUTx is organizing people to go into federal magistrate’s court to observe the proceedings that have targeted Central American refugees and especially those who are being separated from their families.

It is a powerful tool in the service of some of the most vulnerable people in our midst. The few of us who have had the good fortune to be in the court have noticed how the presence of “outsiders” has an impact on the judge’s behavior, supports the public defenders to do a better job, and, allows us to serve as witnesses to this barbarity.

I would so like to put you on our roster of volunteers; please let me know which day (days!) you are available. Please sign up here: http://signup.com/go/digyWSU

Important materials:

What to watch for in court (click here)

How to record what you see (click here)

What is needed:

The court observer would need to be able to be present in the Brownsville Federal Magistrate’s Court (2nd floor, Vela Federal Courthouse, 600 East Harrison, Brownsville) or in the McAllen Magistrate’s Court 1701 U.S. 83 Business #1011, McAllen, TX 78501) by 10am (or, if going in the afternoon, by 1:30pm).

The observer would need to stay until the end of the proceedings. Court can run two hours or longer, but, typically, in Brownsville, they are over by noon. The most important part of the hearing is at the end, when the judge asks the immigrants if they might have anything to say–thus the need to try and stay until the end.

The observer would need to capture the names of the defendants as well as their case numbers. Since you will hear these at least three times, the acoustics can be challenging and there are many names. But the names are crucial for noting which defendant, at the end of the hearing, made a comment, didn’t speak Spanish, had particular issues (on crutches, distressed, etc).

The observer would need to report back (to Michael Seifert) what was seen during the time in court as soon as possible, although in the way that best suits the observer (an email, a voicemail, a phone call). The information is critical to the fight to stop this process.

What else to know:

Best to come with a friend! The court is astonishingly difficult. Note taking is a challenge, as well.

Wear business dress. Women are not allowed into court with sleeveless outfits (the court makes those rules); no shorts or tennis shoes.

You need to have a photo id and you will need to leave your cell phone and electronics in the car.

When you go into the court, there is a security post. They will ask you why you are there, you can tell them that you are there to observe the magistrate’s court.

Once through the security check, in Brownsville you go to the second floor (in McAllen, to the 8th floor). Go to the judge’s court–either Torteya or Morgan in Brownsville (I will let you know the day of the hearing) or Hacker or Ormsby in McAllen.

If you are not allowed into the court:

The Marshalls who guard the court may tell you that there is no room and that you cannot go in. You could ask, “Is there someone I can speak to about being denied entry to a public court hearing? How do I speak to the clerk (of the court)?” They have heard this many times, and they will tell you where to go. 

Please take the time to register a complaint with the clerk (“it is the public’s right to be in these courtrooms”). They may or may not let you in. Please let me know how this plays out.

Observations: What you see during the court proceedings are so important: please take the time to write up your observations, record them on your phone, or give me a call.

The Wild Horse Desert

Eddie Canales runs the South Texas Human Rights Center in Falfurrias, Texas. His office is about 75 miles north of McAllen, just up the street from the Brooks County Court House and a few minutes drive from the enormous checkpoint that the border patrol operates along highway 281. 

For those who are unaware, much like in eastern European countries before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States has operated internal checkpoints for decades. The checkpoints in south Texas are located about eighty miles north of Brownsville and McAllen. Everyone traveling along the two highways that lead out of the region is subjected to the same scrutiny as if they were entering into the country for the first time. It is an unnerving experience for the uninitiated—in the middle of America, an armed federal agent pulls the traveller over and insists that she prove her innocence, that she has a right to be here. 

Immigrants for whom obtaining permission to be here is nigh upon impossible must therefore escape detection at least twice—once upon crossing the Rio Grande, and, once more, going north. Many of them take their chances and try crossing around the checkpoints by heading out into the desert that surrounds the checkpoints. The journey is dangerous; many people—hundreds, it is estimated— have died out in the scrubland that blankets Eddie’s home county.

The checkpoints are the reason Eddie created his Human Rights’ Center. He has a rough job. He maintains dozens of water stations spread out across this area formerly known as the Wild Horse desert, and he has advocated for years to the federal government on behalf of these folks, arguing for a more humane immigration policy, for shutting down the checkpoints, for having the border patrol do more to save the lives of those lost in the desert.

During a visit with him back in February, he talked about the recent discovery of the bodies of a group of migrants. “It had gotten really cold, and we found these individuals who apparently didn’t know how to huddle up together (to share their warmth). They all died. Then, not long afterwards, we found this other group that knew how to huddle up. They survived.”

Life lessons can be found anywhere, of course, but for those paying attention, the Wild Horse Desert offers them up in spades. 

As a measure of the desperation of the migrant: not only is the traverse around the check point complicated by heat (or cold), a lack of water (you simply cannot carry the amount of water that you need to survive), the thorns, the rattlesnakes, the scorpions, but the migrant is walking sand—sand that is loose, deep, and  seemingly designed by some demon to wear a person out. These details are well known by those thinking about making the trip. They know of the risk, they know that people disappear and die while making the journey, and yet they feel that they must take this chance. Something dire indeed is driving people to make this trek.

As a measure of the courage, the generosity and the strength of many who have joined Eddie’s work: exhuming and identifying bodies so that families can have at least the peace of knowing the finality of their loved ones, an exhausting task that pits good-hearted people against hard-headed bureaucracies ranging from our own federal government (which refuses to facilitate the identification of victims between Eddie and the families) to a county coroner who, seemingly maliciously, sits on DNA testing results for months at a time. 

As a measure of just how casually cruel people can be: the water stations are regularly vandalized (this is not specific to south Texas. This video clip shows border patrol agents doing this in Arizona, a particularly chilling rationale for that behavior).

As a measure of the loss of our sensibility as human beings: that we have spent billions of dollars on “securing the border” when the vast, overwhelming majority of the people crossing into the USA are families (moms and dads and their children) who surrender to the first border patrol agent they encounter, and who are seeking asylum. Those who do try to avoid apprehension by the border patrol, and who end up wandering in the desert have names and mothers and children and best friends. Some of the ones that I have known (who made it across the desert alive) played  shortstop for their local baseball team, others taught Sunday school, and yet others were hired out to serenade mothers on Mothers’ Day. 

Eddie knows many of those who did not make it through the desert. He would not have recognized them in real life, as he only saw their remains. But mixed in those remains could be a small purse with some photos in them, giving a hint of the family that awaits news of them, somewhere south of the US. He might find a  prayer card helping the unlucky individual invoke the help of St. Toribio, or a small notebook with phone numbers. Whether or not there is much physical evidence left of the individual, he does know that this was someone who was a son or a father or a best friend.

The Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector Chief Manuel Padilla has a long-standing relationship with Eddie, and Eddie seems somewhat encouraged by the conversation. But the political change in Washington and the continued dehumanization of the immigrant makes any sort of meaningful change a very long-term project.

In the meantime, Eddie and his volunteers will continue to stumble upon someone who, perhaps, did not have someone else to huddle up with, or who just needed some water, and, lacking that, died, alone, and unnecessarily, north of the American border. 

(To help with the mission of the South Texas Human Rights’ Center, go to their website by clicking here).

funeral

Saints of God, come to his/her aid!
Come to meet him/her angels of the Lord!
Receive his/her soul; and present him/her to God the Most High.
May Christ, who called you, take you to himself; may angels bring you into the arms of Abraham. Receive his/her soul: and present him/her to God the Most High.

Eternal rest grant unto him/her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him/her;
present him/her to God the Most High.



Let us pray: Into your hands, Father of mercies, we commend our brother/sister, in the sure and certain hope that, together with all who have died in Christ, he/she will rise with him on the last day. We give you thanks for the blessings which you have bestowed upon N.N. in this life: they are signs to us of your goodness and of our fellowship with the saints in Christ. Merciful Lord, turn toward us and listen to our prayers: open the gates of paradise to your servant and help us who remain to comfort one another with assurances of faith, until we all meet in Christ and are with you and with our brother/sister for ever.