The Laredo City Council voted Monday to approve the creation of a street mural as part of a new campaign launched by the #NoBorderWall Laredo Coalition in an intensifying effort to stop the border wall.
The “Defund the Wall, Fund Our Future” campaign seeks to build the political will to shift the federal government’s priorities away from building a wall that will make local communities feel like an open air prison, and towards creating real security: healthcare, jobs, education, and a healthy environment. The coalition released a report Monday showing how funds earmarked for the wall could be reallocated.
“This vote was about sending a message to Washington D.C. that we have real needs here on the border, and the wall isn’t one of them,” District VIII Council member Roberto Balli said immediately after the vote.
The wall threatens Laredo’s only source of drinking water, public spaces, private homes and ranches, and the city’s Master Plan for sustainable economic redevelopment.
The wall will cost taxpayers $275 million for just 14 miles. The $20 million cost to build a single mile of wall is enough to fund one of the following:
a Level II Major Trauma center for 3.3 years; full tuition, fees, room and board for 1,600 TAMIU students; salaries for 100 full-time Laredo College faculty for two years; and converting more than half the 50-bus El Metro fleet into electric buses.
The 121-mile border wall planned for the Laredo sector will cost over $2.3 billion.
Sister Rosemary Welsh of the Sisters of Mercy and a coalition member, spoke of other of Laredo’s needs.
“Laredo needs jobs,” she said. “Laredo needs better infrastructure. Laredo needs adequate and safe housing. Laredo needs funding to restore the river. Laredo needs investment in our healthcare system, and our colleges and students. Laredo does not need a border wall.”
Addressing members of the City Council, she said, “All of creation is a gift to be shared, a space that God gives us to hold one another together and not to divide.”
To view the video “Defund the Wall, Fund our Future” campaign: CLICK HERE
To view the slide show, “Defund the Wall, Fund our Future” campaign and research CLICK HERE
