We live in America, a country that guarantees its citizens certain basic rights. It’s in our Constitution. The government cannot deprive a citizen of life, liberty, or property without due process.
We have a right to decide what happens to us in our community. We have a right to know how something will affect us. We have a right to know how this National Emergency Declaration will affect us.
We know that everywhere there’s been a barrier, there have been negative consequences to the people in the community — from eminent domain to acres of destruction of vegetation and wildlife, soil erosion, flooding, confiscation of land, and condemnation of property.
This is about more than a wall. It’s about a process. It’s about how laws have been waived to speed up the construction of barriers – leaving border residents with no legal recourse to have a say in what happens in our communities. If we lived 100 miles north, these waivers would not apply.
This is about how we are going to allow the government to treat us. The laws should be applied equally. We should have the same protections as the rest of the of the country.
We should take a stand against a government that is not treating its people equally, a government that is not giving us the rights and protections we deserve and is completely dismissing us. Washington is buying, but we — all of us along the border — are paying for it. We are the ones who will face the consequences of those actions.
I tell my elected officials: stand with us. Demand an environmental study, an impact assessment to determine how this will affect us.
Engage us, the community. Put it on a ballot. Let us decide!
Until the process changes, we need to oppose anything that comes from Washington that doesn’t include us. Why? Because not only as Americans, but also as Texans, we have a duty to protect our rights and our land.
When history is written and your legacy is complete, how do you want to be remembered? As someone who fought for our community or watched it get taken by others?
(Ana Quesada delivered these comments on the banks of the Río Grande on March 14 at a rally at which Laredoans denounced President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the border.)
