About 30 people gathered outside the Tucson Electric Power headquarters this morning to protest U.S. Sen. John McCain’s role in the Oak Flat giveaway to foreign mining company Resolution Copper. Some of the protesters also wanted to raise awareness on a bill McCain sponsors—SB 750—which would waive laws on all federal public land within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Simultaneously, the Republican senator was inside in a private meeting with TEP representatives. 

“He’s having three private meetings this week, private town halls, while he refuses to meet with his constituents,” says Cyndi Tuell, an attorney, conservation advocate and a volunteer with the Sierra Club’s Borderlands campaign. “We are ashamed of him for that and ashamed of him for giving away the sacred Apache land of Oak Flat in a midnight deal in Congress.”

The so-called Arizona Borderland Protection and Preservation Act—which was first introduced earlier this year (Tuell anticipates Congress will re-explore it in September)—would “cut unnecessary red tape and enable Border Patrol agents to have access to all federally managed land in Southwest Arizona, so they can perform their jobs effectively, keep our communities safe, and secure the border once and for all.”

Tuell says what the legislation proposes “flies in the face of what democracy is all about.” 

“Waiving all laws…based on erroneous information, and part of the reason he is so wrong is he won’t talk to the people who know he facts. (McCain) is saying the Border Patrol wants this bill and that is not true,” she says.

On Thursday, Aug. 20, there will be a community forum on SB 750 at the Alliance for Global Justice, 225 E. 26th St., at 7:30 p.m., where panelists that include U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Dan Millis of the Sierra Club and Tuell, will discuss what advocacy groups call the “latest assault on undocumented workers, climate refugees and the Sonoran Desert.”

Tuell says she and several others have been trying to meet, or at the very least speak, with McCain about their concerns on Oak Flat and the border security bill, but that they have been told by his office he has been unavailable. 

“He meets with the people who make him millions of dollars, he doesn’t meet with the average citizen,” she says. “He refuses to meet with his constituents. Basically, if you disagree with the position of your senator, he is going to refuse to meet with you, and then tell the world he is representing the will of the people of Southern Arizona, and that is not true.”

This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

15 replies on “Tucson Crowd Protests John McCain’s Oak Flat Mess, Sponsorship of Border Security Bill”

  3. Let’s face it Senator McCain is too old to have to face people at an open public meeting. We have seen how red-faced and angry he gets when questioned by
    the public at one of his open forums. It will be interesting to see if he faces his opponent in a debate in the primary.

  9. This is the law:
    “Expedited Removal”: The removal of an alien who is inadmissible because the individual does not possess valid entry documents or is inadmissible for fraud or misrepresentation of material fact (INA § 235(b)(1)(B)(iii)). The alien may be removed without a hearing before an immigration court.” pg 2, Box 1, right side.
    http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/pub…

    The NEW POLICY (which is not law):
    On February 13th, 2013 Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council states under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee “Immigration agents are regularly prohibited from enforcing United States Immigration LAW. According to NEW POLICY, immigration agents can no longer arrest persons solely for entering the United States illegally.”

  10. This is an environmentally sound project that puts thousands of Americans back to work, and helps us with the balance of trade.

    Doing business with Iran??? Our own President is in bed with them. That must be an endorsement, not a criticism.

  12. Will somebody tell McCain he’s long past his retirement age. If McCain doesn’t take the hint hopefully the people of AZ will wise up and boot the old warmongering madman out of office

  14. McCain isn’t the only one who gave “away the sacred Apache land of Oak Flat in a midnight deal in Congress.” Obama was part of it as well. Obama received sizable contributions from Rio Tinto for his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. He and his staff have yet to publicly oppose the copper mine. Obama did not object to the NDAA rider attached and one wonder’s if that wasn’t some sort of a backdoor deal between him and McCain to get the bill through. The only difference between McCain and Obama on this one is that the first is loud and clear about where he stands and Obama has been mum all along. McCain isn’t your only enemy here.

  15. McCain isn’t the only one who gave “away the sacred Apache land of Oak Flat in a midnight deal in Congress.” Obama was part of it as well. Obama received sizable contributions from Rio Tinto for his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. He and his staff have yet to publicly oppose the copper mine. Obama did not object to the NDAA rider attached and one wonder’s if that wasn’t some sort of a backdoor deal between him and McCain to get the bill through. The only difference between McCain and Obama on this one is that the first is loud and clear about where he stands and Obama has been mum all along. McCain isn’t your only enemy here.

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