Center for Biological Diversity

For Immediate Release, June 6, 2017

Contact:  Randy Serraglio, (520) 784-1504, rserraglio@biologicaldiversity.org

Pima County Passes Resolution Opposing Trump's Border Wall

TUCSON, Ariz.— The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted today to pass a resolution opposing President Trump's proposed border wall and increased militarization of the border region. The resolution explicitly rejects the president's Jan. 25 executive order and calls for a comprehensive review of border-security policy.

“We're pleased and grateful that our local elected leaders have denounced Trump's destructive border plans,” said Randy Serraglio, a conservation advocate with the Center. “Let their message ring out — don't destroy our beautiful border region and terrorize its people in our name.”

The resolution lists many reasons to oppose the border wall and militarization. These include thousands of migrant deaths and civil- and human-rights abuses caused by existing border policy, as well as widespread harm to border environments and wildlife, many species of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

“The border wall divides and harms people and wildlife alike,” said Serraglio. “There's no reason to sacrifice jaguars, ocelots, Mexican wolves and other rare and precious animals to feed a delusion of border security. Border walls and militarization have done a lot of harm already — and nothing good for the cause of immigration reform.”

Pima County is home to the city of Tucson and more than a million people. It includes almost 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, much of which lies on the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation. The Tohono O'odham live on both sides of the border, and the resolution cites the opposition of tribal leaders to the border wall, which would destroy sacred sites and impede cross-border movements for traditional and ceremonial purposes.

“The proposal to wall off the U.S.-Mexico border is driven by bigotry, fear-mongering and a cynically distorted image of the borderlands,” said Serraglio. “Trump's paranoid vision doesn't reflect the reality of border communities, which are among the safest in the country.”

The city of Tucson will consider a similar resolution at its meeting later today.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

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