Javier Sierra, javier.sierra@sierraclub.org, 703.927.4750
(English follows)
(English)
On Day One, President Biden Terminates Illegal National Emergency Declaration for Destructive Border Wall
US-Mexico Border — Yesterday, President Biden signed an executive order to rescind Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration that was used to rush the imposition of border walls with money from the military’s budget.
The move by the Trump administration was challenged by the Sierra Club, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) in a lawsuit that reached the Supreme Court, and declared illegal by a federal district court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Biden’s announcement means wall construction using funds obtained through the emergency declaration will be halted until a full legal review is completed. Read the order here.
In response, borderlands representatives released the following statements:
“The Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network (RGV-EVN) shares in the excitement for fellow borderland communities, but wishes to remind the general public that while the fake national emergency declaration has been canceled and construction enabled by those funds paused, funds for border walls in the RGV were legally appropriated by Congress early on in this border wall fight. We want the national media and policymakers to recognize our region of primarily Latinx people is systemically forgotten, routinely sacrificed, and unfairly painted as a ‘no man's land’ where harmful policies are allowed to continue,” said Norma Herrera at the Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network.
“Our sacred river is not a border, but the life-giving force that connects us all together. The wall itself is an immoral monument to settler colonial destruction. It embodies and expresses centuries of white supremacy, racism, and genocide. The wall itself has desecrated sacred lands and sacred sites, including burial sites. The construction of the wall ignores Indigenous Sovereignty, and it damages ecosystems and the environment,” said Christopher Basaldú, PhD, Organizing Manager for Sierra Club and a member of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas (Esto’k Gna). "It’s critical that the Biden administration restore environmental and public health safeguards, take down the damaging barriers, and liberate human beings imprisoned in these cruel and unjust detention centers.”
“President Biden’s day one move to terminate Trump’s hateful, dangerous, and colossally wasteful emergency declaration is welcome news in a path to restoration of the borderlands,” said Dan Millis of Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “It is time to turn the page on the corruption, inhumanity, and unlawful tactics Trump used to push his cruel border agenda. We need a new vision for the borderlands— one that protects human rights, the environment, and everyone living in our region, including immigrants and asylum-seekers who have suffered immensely under the previous administration.”
“We applaud President Joe Biden’s new approach to border governance, which moves us towards humane and responsible management, and away from harmful and unaccountable enforcement,” said Vicki B. Gaubeca, Director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition. “We urge President Biden to continue this important work of undoing the harm in our region by rethinking borders, and develop and strengthen policies that expand public safety for all, protect human rights, and welcome people with dignity and respect.”
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Sobre el Sierra Club
El Sierra Club es la mayor y más influyente organización medioambiental de base en Estados Unidos y cuenta con cerca de 4 millones de miembros y seguidores en todo el país. Además de crear oportunidades para que personas de todas las edades, niveles y localizaciones puedan disfrutar de la naturaleza, el Sierra Club se esfuerza en salvaguardar la salud de las comunidades, proteger la vida silvestre, y preservar los restantes parajes naturales por medio de activismo de base, educación pública, cabildeo y en las cortes. Para más información visite: www.sierraclub.org/ecocentro.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with close to 4 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.