By Katie Aplis, Communications Intern
I traded a typical work morning of browsing news sites to being a part of news in action. With reports of Austin City Council members sponsoring a new resolution in opposition to Trump’s Border Wall, I attended the press conference held right before the council meeting to preview this agenda item.
On the morning of the press conference, I biked downtown to Austin City Hall in a blazer, a task that typically makes me feel like a badass. After going through security, I joined a group of people waiting outside of the conference room, activists and press alike. While waiting with Sierra Club and Austin Environmental Justice Coalition folk, council members Delia Garza and Ann Kitchen introduced themselves and thanked us for coming.
These two women, my co-worker explained, were sponsoring the resolution being presented along with council members Pio Renteria, Greg Casar, and Mayor Steve Adler. Dave Cortez, a Sierra Club organizer, began speaking to our cohort about the ineffective and destructive nature of a border wall when the larger group began moving towards the well-lit press room; a podium in the spotlight.
We gathered next to the walls, dodging view paths of the cameras. Activists and council members were then asked to move behind the podium. I suddenly wished I had combed through my helmet hair before entering the room. But nonetheless, I was excited to be so close to the action. I, with other surrounding activists, held up a small signs stating “No Al Muro” - “No Border Wall.”
Council Member Garza, the lead council member on this issue, gave a brief rundown of the purpose and explanation of the proposed resolution. There are two basic components:
1. It reiterates Austin’s strong opposition to Trump’s border wall and reemphasized support of immigrant communities, and
2. Moves to limit any city business with companies involved with the construction, design, or maintenance of the wall.
She declared that Austin would join San Diego, Tucson, and Flagstaff, in adopting this type of resolution. She hopes that setting an example with these cities will urge other cities to do the same.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler was next to the podium. The statement that stood out to me the most in Adler’s comments was that the rate of committed felonies among undocumented populations is half of the rate among the general population. This was an important point because Trump continues to call our Southern border “very dangerous” - but this statement only holds true for migrants and Mexican citizens south of the border, not for U.S. citizens.
Council Member Ann Kitchen presented the environmental damages that would surface as a result of this divisive construction; such as what could happen to the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge. Kitchen echoed the sentiments of her colleagues in the idea that this wall is not about our security, it’s about dividing us. This wall presents a humanitarian crisis, and we are better than that, she said.
The final speaker was Vicky from Workers Defense Project. She spoke on the dangers men and women in the construction force, an issue close to home as her husband is a construction worker in Texas. Construction workers are victims of wage theft and face the deadliest working conditions. Texas depends on its undocumented workforce; over half of construction workers in the state are undocumented. This is why the Workers Defense Project has launched a campaign to take action against private entities that benefit from anti-immigration laws. Vicky finished her testimony by calling on other local leaders to take a stand against injustice.
The press conference finished after a short question and answer section.
Some environmental activists and I continued to talk about the border wall further after the press conference. We hung out around city council for a bit before heading next door for some breakfast tacos and coffee; a perfect setting to learn that the resolution passed with a 10-1 vote. I vividly remember one person saying that environmental justice is always social justice. We aren’t just environmental activists, we are racial activists and reproductive rights activists; you can’t look at the environment without looking at people.
Like detention, deportation, and stripping of protected status, a border wall is another manifestation of Trump’s hateful policies and totally unnecessary as it provides no national security benefits. Every day that Congress doesn’t act, more than 100 young people unfairly lose their protections to stay in the only country they know as home.
Stand with immigrant families across the country: Join us and our partners in the immigrant rights movement in calling on Congress to pass a clean Dream Act and save Temporary Protected Status (TPS) without border wall funding, increased border militarization, or attacks on diversity visas and family migration.