Letter to a senator: Stop the Border Wall
I wrote an article for TheTrek about my trip - Growth Through Failure on the Arizona Trail
<—At the southern terminus of the Arizona Trail on the US/Mexico border in 2014 during my AZT bike attempt with the intention of conducting research for my masters thesis (Sustainable Communities masters program at Northern Arizona University)—> Relationship with Nature and Environmental Behavior: A Case Study of Arizona National Scenic Trail Thru Hikers.
I had planned to return to Arizona to thru-hike the trail this past Spring but my plans were thwarted by the pandemic.
The following was sent to Arizona’s Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally as well as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (TucsonComments@cbp.dhs.gov).
In a time (pandemic!) when all federal resources should be spent saving lives, making/distributing tests/vaccines, stabilizing people and the economy can you tell me why then is the Customs & Border Protection pressing on with building a border wall in nationally protected lands? Or why funds have been diverted from the military to move this forward without public input or Congressional oversight? If this project continues it will be breaking many acts such as the National Trails System Act, Endangered Species Act, and more. If continued this wall will bisect critical habitat for endangered jaguars and more, not to mention negatively impact the Arizona’s $21Billion outdoor recreation economy tied to the Arizona National Scenic Trail, where the southern terminus resides in Coronado National Memorial.
As a former resident of Arizona, where I attended graduate school, I did my masters thesis on the Arizona Trail. I biked 300 miles of it and brought my mother from out of state to visit. I was actually planning on hiking the trail in it's entirety this Spring but was halted due to the pandemic. This is one of Arizona’s crown jewels and should be protected, as already stated in a law that the government would be breaking if continued to build these ineffective, expensive, and murderous walls.
Stop these border walls and focus on taking care of people. People are dying. Money shouldn’t be going to these walls. You should be trying to help people not hurt them.
I was compelled to write the above due to receiving the Arizona Trail Newsletter on May 7 as seen below.
Addendum: I also want to acknowledge that this post was mainly inspired by the border wall impact on the Arizona Trail, but that’s not the only reason to not have the border wall. The border wall above all else is a symbol of xenophobia and racism. Blocking a certain population of people from entering the country is racist. Not to mention immoral and inhumane. Folks fleeing from war, violence, and persecution are just trying to survive. According to a UN report (linked below) “nearly 71 million people were displaced last year by war, persecution and other forms of violence…Over 41 million people worldwide were internally displaced, and 3.5 million were registered as asylum seekers.” Let’s open our arms and country to our fellow brothers and sisters. And let’s not forget the role the United States has played in the instability of other countries, especially in Latin America, directly causing folks to flee. The 350.org article linked below explains this thoroughly. We need leaders to pass progressive immigration reform, save Dreamers, increase acceptance of asylum seekers, establish a pathway to citizenship, and more.
UNHCR: Global forced displacement tops 70 million
350.org: The United States Bears Responsibility for the Immigration Crisis
Read The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. Tells the story, “In May 2001, a group of men attempted to cross the border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the deadliest region of the continent, a place called the Devil’s Highway.”
July update: CBP is going through with it and closing the trail to build the wall. In a protected national memorial, across a protected national scenic trail, through critical habitat for endangered species.
& at the same time ICE comes out with this garbage —>. We got more than enough trained enforcement agents as is, now you want to give power to the masses to arrest already marginalized and vulnerable populations. They want to build an army. This is disgusting. Join me in contacting our representatives to put a stop to this.
screenshot from Instagram. Source: @democracynow