EL PASO, January 12, 2021 – Today, the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) will lead a peaceful march repudiating President Trump’s visit to Alamo, Texas, to oversee the completion of a 400-mile section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in the area. During the event, local advocates will not only call for an immediate halt of construction and the dismantlement of existing portions of the wall, but also a rejection of the hate and white supremacy that the wall symbolizes for local residents, and perpetuated by the Trump administration.

“Trump has blood on his hands, and he is not welcome at the border. Nor is the violence and anti-democratic rhetoric and actions that he represents and continues to encourage. Last week’s assault on the U.S. Capitol and our democratic institutions are the most recent examples of the violence and hatred that he has incited during his tenure, but are by no means the only ones. His policies and rhetoric are also responsible for the white supremacist attack at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 that claimed the lives of 23 people, and the astounding violence inflicted on peaceful Black Lives Matter activists by the police last year at nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many other Black and Brown people at the hands of law enforcement,” said Fernando García, BNHR executive director. “Rather than spend his last days in the Oval Office addressing the pressing Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring an orderly transition, Trump is doubling down on his xenophobic, white supremacist agenda. The wall that he consistently glorifies as his legacy is nothing but a shameful reminder of the suffering, violence and division that he has fostered. Trump does not and has never represented our communities. His presence at the borderland is a provocation, and an act of violence in and of itself. Border communities are calling for the dismantlement of the wall of shame, racism and white supremacy. The wall and all it represents have no place in our society, and Trump must be held accountable.”

Last December, BNHR launched its 2021 Immigration Reform Campaign at the Borderland, outlining the following demands of elected officials at all levels of government:

  • The introduction of an inclusive immigration reform package in Congress within the Biden administration’s first 100 days;
  • A commitment using Executive powers to repeal the destructive immigration policies targeting immigrant families and children in the border region implemented under the Trump administration;
  • The passage of inclusive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship;
  • The demilitarization of the southern border;
  • Accountability from local and federal law enforcement, including DHS agencies, for human rights violations; 
  • The closure of immigration detention facilities across the country, and;
  • The reunification of families who were separated due to cruel and unjust immigration policies.

The Border Network for Human Rights, founded in 1998, is one of the leading human rights advocacy and immigration reform organizations in the U.S. BNHR has over 7,000 members in West Texas and Southern New Mexico. To learn more about BNHR, please visit https://bnhr.org/