WASHINGTON – Advocates called on President Joe Biden to “tear down this wall” Tuesday and fulfill his campaign promise of stopping the border wall construction that he put on hold in January.
The meeting of border-state lawmakers, advocates and tribal members came 70 days after Biden, in one of his first acts as president, halted construction and gave the secretaries of Defense, Treasury and Homeland Security 60 days to study next steps on the wall.
That deadline has come and gone with no plan, and the White House did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. But the advocates said it’s past time for the administration to act.
“We need to stop that wall from being built anymore,” said Verlon Jose, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation who joined the news conference.
Then-President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the border that allowed construction to proceed with less oversight of environmental and archeological concerns. The wall not only divided the Tohono O’odham reservation, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border, but critics say it also destroyed ancient graveyards and sacred sites.
“When it cut through the land, it was like a knife crossed through my heart,” Jose said. “That’s what happened to America when they put up the wall and blew up the sacred sites and burial grounds and so forth.”
The halt on border wall construction is just one of several Trump-era policies that were halted or reversed by Biden during his first days in office. Those included renewed support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an end to the ban on travel from come Muslim-majority countries, and an end to the Migrant Protection Protocols – the so-called “remain in Mexico” policy that forced asylum seekers to wait on the other side of the border while their appeals were processed.
Republicans have seized on a surge in immigrant apprehensions at the southwest border for what they are calling Biden’s “border crisis.”
Close to 400,000 people had been apprehended at the border in the first five months of fiscal 2021, compared to 458,000 for all of the previous year. And an increasing number of them have been unaccompanied minors, who have overflowed detention facilities forcing the administration to scramble for alternatives.
Critics blame Biden’s immigration moves, which they claim have acted as an incentive for immigrants to come north.
But border advocates on Tuesday pushed back – hard. They noted that the current increase in immigration began last April, long before Trump left office, and that surges in migration typically move in cycles.
Former Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke said the inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the border wall ultimately led to the hate that drove the 2019 shooting in an El Paso Walmart that targeted Hispanics, killing 23.
“When we look at the border as a security problem, as a military threat, not only do we get $15 billion in wasteful spending that is the border wall, we harm those in our communities who are most vulnerable to racist attacks inspired by this kind of militarized thinking about our border,” O’Rourke said.
The White House has repeatedly tried to send a message to potential migrants, particularly those from the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, that the border is closed and that they should not try to come to the U.S.
The administration has also pledged to invest in Northern Triangle countries to improve conditions there in hopes of reducing violence and economic problems that can drive people north.
Tricia Cortez, founder of the #NoBorderWall coalition, said simply that there “ain’t no crisis here,” citing DHS data that showed migrant apprehensions are “nowhere near historic highs.”
“We’re tired of being used and having our day-to-day reality distorted,” Cortez said. “We are thriving and dynamic communities that contribute so much to this country, and we want to be treated, portrayed and respected as such.”
This article appears in Mar 25-31, 2021.
From the Article: Republicans have seized on a surge in immigrant apprehensions at the southwest border for what they are calling Bidens “border crisis.”
For those paying attention the “border crisis” tagline has been highly hyped on the Faux Gnus channel shortly after the last vote was counted in the 2020 election.
The latest tactics used by Faux Gnus, working hand-in-glove with the Republicans, is to make a grandstand photo opportunity decrying some perceived event or injustice that from 2016-2020 was just fine with them — picture the Rio Grande River tour featuring Cancun Cruz — and then challenging the Biden administration to dance to their tune and control the false narrative that the Republicans are putting down.
They have been trying to get anyone in the Biden administration to call the border situation a “crisis” and they whine they are ignoring the “crisis” when they won’t take the bait.
Last week, the White House press spokesperson actually used the word “crisis” replying to a question and the talking heads over at Faux jumped on it like Donald Trump on a Big Mac.
As for the border fence: “Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man.” — General George S. Patton Jr.
This border “wall” is a testament to the stupidity of one man and those who followed him inciting unbridled hate, violence and racism that is still raging across this troubled land.
If I had the kind of money some American billionaires have, I would disassemble the border wall and reassemble it into bridges that stretch across the border to welcome those seeking a better life. Building walls is not the solution — fixing immigration is the answer.
Were you referring to the man that reduced sentences on blacks and released them early after Clinton and Biden and Obama imposed the three strikes rule and asked them to play basketball? Or was this man the one that reduced unemployment for minorities to the lowest levels in history?
People say the craziest things. It must be based on ignorance.
Prosecute the employers hiring illegal immigrants and the whole problem would stop quickly.
High immigration rates are unsustainable, force wages lower for working class Americans, especially minorities, while enriching the wealthiest Americans. It’s no wonder Cesar Chavez opposed illegal immigration.
The damage to Quitobaquito Springs may be irreversible. https://www.popsci.com/story/environment/b…
“…welcome those seeking a better life…”
Really?
Around the world, according to the U.N. data system, there are 1.3 billion people who live in multi-dimensional poverty- the result of governments listening to university economic professors and New York Times economists.
What is multi-dimensional poverty? No running water, no electricity, no car, perpetual intestinal disorders from drinking rancid water and eating rats to survive.
They all would move to the U.S. immediately- if they could.
That’s only that group. There are an additional 5 billion people world-wide who live below the U.S. definition of poverty: $26,000 per year for a family of four.
At least 400 million of them would move to the U.S. if they could. If those 400 million moved, another billion would quickly follow.
People have no idea of the avalanche that is about to happen. Over 60 million of those living in multi-dimensional poverty live in Latin America. They all are now experiencing a sense of panic, that the the time is now to move to the U.S. while the window is open.
Those 16,000 children that Biden has in plexiglass cages at the border could easily explode to 300,000.
We can and should absorb a million immigrants per year but the last time we went to two million per year, AZ murders were double and auto thefts were triple.
Biden is about to become the deporter in chief, just like Obama. People will not tolerate the immigration levels that are about to happen.
Roosevelt deported 4% of the population, including citizens. That would be 12 million people today.
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” — Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)