Few places in the country interact with Mexico as much as Southern Arizona, and several of the region’s jurisdictions have taken a collective stand against President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall expansion along the nation’s southern border. Following the lead of the Tohono O’odham Legislative Council and the National Congress of American Indians, both the Pima County Board of Supervisors and the Tucson City Council approved a joint resolution standing in opposition to the border wall on Tuesday, June 6.
Unanimously approved by the Tucson City Council and approved by a 3-2 vote by the county board (Republican Supervisors Ally Miller and Steve Christy were opposed), the resolutions state—among other things—that the proposed wall construction stands against the core values of “inclusiveness and tolerance” of the nation and will cause “substantial environmental damage” to the region.
District 5 Supervisor Richard Elías, who along with Tucson Councilwoman Regina Romero was the prime sponsor of the joint resolutions, said the day was about standing together with the people of the region to object to the “abomination that is the border wall.”
“We continue to understand the borderlands because we have lived here all our lives and know this border wall is in opposition to our values,” Elías said. “We know that the border wall is in opposition to what we share in terms of the business that we conduct. We know that the environmental damage that is going to be done to wildlife, to the fauna, to the beautiful Sonoran Desert that we all share … We have to be the stewards that protect it.”
Both the county and the city have denounced Executive Order 13767, which aims to construct an expanded border wall, and the county’s resolution also calls for a “thorough and comprehensive analysis of the cost, effectiveness, necessity and consequences of a U.S. border-security policy and this Executive Order.”
The city’s resolution takes it several steps further, calling for the billions of dollars potentially allocated to construction to be instead spent on health care, education, housing, infrastructure repair, alleviating poverty, increasing economic opportunity and “safeguarding the health and well-being of all Americans.” The council resolution also states that the current wall has caused “substantial” environmental damage, and is “an offensive and damaging symbol of fear and division.”
Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild called the proposed wall a “terrible” policy decision and a “waste of tax dollars.”
In passing its resolution, Tucson also calls for a cost-benefit analysis, stands in opposition of “continuing expenditure of federal funding directed to private, for-profit prisons for the detention and incarceration of immigrants.”
Most controversial, and drawing immediate criticism from local chambers of commerce, was the city’s inclusion of a section which allows the council to identify companies involved in designing, building and financing border-wall construction, and divest from each, as the law allows.
Tucson Metro Chamber President and CEO Mike Varney told the mayor and council in a letter that the chamber and “the business community as a whole” are opposed to the divestiture.
“Many local companies (including many small businesses) compete for and frequently win government contracts,” Varney wrote. “The notion of penalizing any business that may be awarded a contract to work on a component of the proposed border wall or any other lawful project or assignment is extreme and punitive.”
Varney said the council should focus on the issue of the propriety of the border wall and make whatever statement it chooses to make on the proposed construction of that wall. He said the city does not have to include punitive measures “that will only damage local companies in order to make that statement.”
Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Lea Márquez Peterson told the council in a letter that the chamber is also worried about the “cost and effectiveness and potential relationship-damaging” consequences of expanding the border wall, though she expressed concern regarding the council’s “punitive tone” in dealing with local businesses.
“We have many members of our chamber and in our business community who currently work on federal procurement contracts,” Márquez wrote. “The tone of this resolution creates an assumption that if they were to create a component part, advise on design or provide technical skills or labor to build the wall, they would not be able to receive future city procurement contracts.”
Though there are members of the community standing in support of the wall’s construction, Tohono O’odham Nation Vice-Chairman Verlon Jose said it was important to know that there are communities standing together in opposition.
“We are about building bridges, not walls, and we will continue to collaborate with partners because this is bigger than the Tohono O’odham Nation, bigger than the City of Tucson, bigger than Pima County. This is a world issue, and we will not stand for another wall to be built on this mother Earth,” he said.
Supervisors Christy and Miller did not return calls for comment.
This article appears in Jun 15-21, 2017.
NO AMOUNT OF BLOOD, Rape of Women, Child Sexual Slavery, or Human Misery will satisfy the political delusions of THESE self righteous supporters of Open Border Policy as they CONTINUE to promulgate the “Raza Revolution” and “Aid and Abet, Entice and Invite and otherwise to ENCOURAGE the illegal entry of impoverished Mexican Citizens for political and economic exploitation!!!
Well the City and County supervisors that voted for the resolution to oppose can be prepared to be VOTED OUT.
Why don’t they go to countries south of the border and teach their skills to the citizens? What are their skills?
Lets boycott all products sold in United States that are produced in Mexico. Lets boycott travel to Mexico. Stop giving hand outs (as aid) to Mexico. How many Mexican troops and police are on the border stopping illegals from crossing the border? The answer is 0. Send all illegals back to there beloved country Mexico. Stop giving medical aid to illegals crossing the border. Americans where are you? I had enough. Lets protest just like the Mexicans do. Can they protest there Gov in Mexico? 99 % of all illegals in this USA are from Mexico. Lets form a protest movement. Our gov needs to do more about this illegal issue. The American tax payer are paying the bill in the Billions. Stewart Stanger
Think you’re pissed off now? Wait until next week when the Bored of Stupidvisors votes to give $2,000 of our tax dollars to some humane borders group to refill water jugs for people sneaking into the country. Even if we could afford it ( which we can’t), that’s nothing more than aiding and abetting. These stooges need to be ousted. Just don’t hold your breath.
It doesn’t matter what they are opposed to, if the president wants and succeeds in actually building this wall, their point is moot. Perhaps if they thought as highly of natural born American citizens rather than the law breaking illegal border crossers, they would be applauded!
Of course, Southern Arizona has always stood in full support of illegal immigration.
Of course, bslap is a know-nothing repetitive troll.
Wondering if these people who are so anti-immigrant are willing to go out into the fields and harvest
the many crops that these hard working labors do? Or wash dishes, mop floors?? These [so called]
illegal immigrants are essential to our economy. the only reason they are
[illegal] is because our federal government has become deadlocked and unable to improve our immigration policies.
Not true. And many anti illegal entrants are not anti immigrant. The problem with your reasoning is that for some reason you have compiled all of each side into one convenient group. There are still legal immigrant (hopefuls) waiting patiently in line to be allowed entrance, while those you seem to want to help jump the line, sneak under the fence and claim citizenship because “they got here.”
We have a system in place, you have just been convinced to ignore it.
So…potholes all fixed, then?