By Bekah Hinojosa
Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
The day started off with frontera (borderlands) community members gathered hand-in-hand with immigrants outside the Pharr, Texas Attorney General’s office. They awaited the final word on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the 2012 immigration policy established by the Obama administration. They lined the sidewalk with colorful banners and fluorescent signs, chanting in Spanish and English. Someone carried a stereo speaker to amplify the voice of Jeff Sessions reading the Trump administration’s creed calling for the end of DACA. 
It comes as no surprise that our community continues to face racist declarations from the federal government -- from striking down DACA, to the building of new border walls in the Rio Grande Valley, and the pardoning of Sheriff Arpaio. On top of that is the looming threat from the Texas Legislature to impose the “show me your papers” law, or SB 4, that essentially morphs police into ICE agents. A federal judge temporarily blocked SB 4 from going into effect on Sept. 1, but Greg Abbott and co. fully intend to appeal the ruling.
“I am one of the over 800,000 DREAMers across the US who have been able to work, go to school, contribute to America and live fuller lives because of the program,” said Abraham Diaz, Education Specialist for La Union Del Pueblo Entero (LUPE).
“Doing away with this program that has done so much to lift up our community and nation will not drag us back down. We want our immigrant community to know that we will stand together and support each other."
Immigrant families from our community call for continued resistance and action, so that’s what we did. When the DACA protest ended, we organized, mobilized, and carpooled to seven different City Council meetings where resolutions opposing the border wall were the hot agenda item.
About the Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande Valley is a region of small towns in South Texas with a unique cultural identity. Located along the Rio Grande River and the Gulf of Mexico, it’s home to almost 2 million people. The majority of the population is latino, of which 28,000 are DACA recipients. People from here tend to refer to themselves as being from “the Valley,” rather than the specific tiny town named by a white settler.
The towns are interdependent, with people driving on the daily across towns to visit family members and friends or to attend school or work. Our region is set apart by vast unpopulated lands and surrounded by US Border Patrol Customs Checkpoints which could soon result in the hostile demand of showing proof of citizenship, a discriminating action that is often required of people with certain skin tones more than others. These very checkpoints were kept open during Hurricane Harvey evacuations just last week, a cruel move in the midst of a catastrophic emergency situation.
Our border region is very misrepresented in mainstream media and popular culture, often portrayed as a place of massive violence, military, and drugs. And while some of those things are present because the Border Patrol likes to fly around in helicopters, it does not stop us from going to school, working, hiking through our wildlife refuges along the Rio Grande River, and organizing to protect our region.
Seven Border Towns Pass Anti-Border Wall Resolutions
The City of McAllen, Pharr, Sullivan City, Edinburg, Alamo, San Juan, and Palmview all had agendas including resolutions opposing the border wall, with some of the meetings taking place at the same time. Last Tuesday, they joined our other cities that have already passed resolutions: Brownsville, La Joya, Mission, Weslaco, and Hidalgo County.
Tuesday’s first meeting took place at noon in McAllen. Organizers passed out “No Border Wall” signs and United Farmworker Flags, a symbol of our historic resistance down here, for people to hold or wave at the commissioners during the meetings. Before approving the resolution, the officials had a back and forth discussion, finally telling the public they were “not supportive of a border wall being built through the Santa Ana Wildlife refuge.”
The next meeting was in Pharr at 4 pm. This meeting agenda also included the resolution to oppose Texas’ SB 4 law and the border wall resolution, both of which were approved by city officials.
Finally, the cities of Edinburg, Sullivan City, Alamo, San Juan, and Palmview held their meeting at the same 6 PM time. Valley residents strategically divided amongst these towns to ensure the resolutions were passed without amendments and that “No Border Wall” signs were physically present in each of the town meeting audiences.
Attending the meeting in Edinburg was crucial because although the town is not a border city and does not have a section of the border wall within its limits, it is a one of the larger populated communities in our region and should be involved in taking a stand against the wall. The meeting room was packed with people and several residents made public comments. The city deliberated and passed the resolution without hesitation.
“All the resolutions were written by residents, and they do a beautiful job of representing the opposition to this wall,” said Jackelin Trevino, a long-time Valley organizer.
“I wrote a resolution myself and I made sure it included no loopholes that would allow construction companies to build that wall,” said Laura S. Sanchez-Martinez, Edinburg resident and art student at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Passing these resolutions was a joint effort with local organizations and residents from across the region: La Union Del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), A Resource in Serving Equality (ARISE), the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club, Fuerza Del Valle, and the Equal Voice Network. You can read the official press release here.
Stand With Us
The federal government is hell-bent on dividing our community with walls, militarization, and mass deportations. No one is coming to save us, not in DC or in the Texas Legislature. That’s not the way it should be, but we have the local knowledge and resources to make a stand, city by city. After all, it has always been up to us to rise up and defend our homes and communities. 
A sign addressed to US Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan during a Feb. 2017 demonstration outside of a border station in McAllen, TX
As of last Tuesday, the Rio Grande Valley is now up to 12 cities that have passed anti border wall resolutions. Looking to organize your community to make your voices heard in front of your City Council and pass your own? Here’s a handy tutorial the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club put together.
About The Author
Bekah Hinojosa is a multi-generational fronteriza from the Rio Grande Valley borderlands of Texas. She organizes campaigns with her community to prevent the construction of three fracked-gas export terminals and new border walls.