Calexico, CA-- Tomorrow, Donald Trump will visit the US-Mexico border in Southern California to promote his border wall. Despite Trump’s plan to pose next to a self-titled plaque on the barrier to claim credit, the specific section of wall he is visiting is not new under this administration, but replacement wall planned since 2009 according to reports. The visit comes days after a Department of Homeland Security document revealed proposals for 213 miles of new border walls to be built with billions of dollars taken from the Pentagon as a result of Trump’s national emergency declaration-- much of which would cut through Southern California.
Interview/ TV availability:
Jill Holslin-
Jill is a resident of Tijuana and a leader on the Sierra Club Borderlands Team. She is a visual artist who has been documenting and writing about the destruction from the border wall in communities for over a decade. Her images have been published in books and cultural journals in Mexico and the United States. Jill is bilingual and available for interview in Mexico. Read more about her here.
Rick Guerrero-
Rick is a union organizer and military veteran activist with the Sierra Club Borderlands Team based in San Diego, California. Rick’s experiences as a border resident, in the labor movement and in the U.S. military have convinced him that walls and militarization are not viable solutions for complex immigration and border issues.
In advance, representatives of the Sierra Club released the following statements:
“Everything is a show for Donald Trump. He’ll come to California to tout more border walls and likely boast on social media-- all while using our communities as bargaining chips, ripping apart families, and stealing taxpayer dollars in the process. This is just another vehicle for him to spew his hateful agenda, and offer no real solutions, without showing even the slightest care for our communities. This mess has gone on for too long. We cannot allow Trump to militarize safe places and build more walls through our most precious American landscapes,” said Richard Guerrero, LCDR, USN (Ret.), and Sierra Club Borderlands Activist in San Diego.
“The threat to close down our southern border and to use our national security budget to build hundreds of miles of wall is fiscally irresponsible and destructive to our environment, our economy and our communities. The southern border sees $1.6 billion dollars in cross-border trade every day and supports millions of jobs in the U.S. Disruption of this robust system of trade and commerce would be devastating for the region, and for the nation. We cannot stand by and allow Trump's dramatic spectacles of aggression to distract us from reality. Walls won't build the American economy, they will destroy it,” said Jill Holslin, Tijuana resident and Sierra Club Borderlands activist.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.