Threatened Communities

Building the border wall in urban areas is a priority for the Department of Homeland Security because they say that in such places it is “easier for an alien…to conceal themselves in a home or business.” In Texas border communities, the edge of the Rio Grande is already crowded with many homes and businesses that will have to be destroyed for a two-layer wall to be erected. Like countless other human societies throughout history, these communities were founded on the banks of a river. In places like Laredo, Roma, and Brownsville, the river is still the heart of the community, its status as an international border notwithstanding. You cannot cut through the heart of a community without causing grave harm.

It is important to note that DHS and the Border Patrol have not been forthcoming about where sections of the border wall are planned and where the wall will actually be situated. However, they have said that they will have to build north of the flood control levee in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The levee is up to a mile north of the river, putting many structures, city parks, historic sites, and farm fields behind the wall and rendering them inaccessible. In cities further west, the wall will be built closer to the river, and in cities on the river this may mean the condemnation of buildings in the wall’s path. Along the entire border it will be an enormous blow to communities.

Community centers, historical heritage and people’s homes

In the historic town of Roma, Texas, city hall is situated on the edge of a bluff overlooking the river. A two-layered wall in this community would mean not only the destruction of the seat of city government, but also a good portion of the town.

The University of Texas at Brownsville is also threatened. According to the limited information that DHS has shared, the border wall in Brownsville will slice through the campus. The institution’s International Technology, Education and Commerce Campus will be walled off and effectively ceded to Mexico. Juliet V. Garcia, President of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost Collegehas said, “To us, the idea of a fence is kind of aberrant behavior, and against what we have established ourselves to be: a place where we convene discussion and economic systems and languages and people, not separate them.”

La Lomita Chapel was built on a gentle rise above the Rio Grande in 1899 and gave the nearby town of Mission its name. It remains in use, and the descendents of those who first worshiped here still utter prayers within its walls. However, because it lies just south of the levee, if a wall goes up it will be on the Mexico side.

The community of Granjeno was first settled along the banks of the Rio Grande in 1767. Many of the current residents are descendants of the original settlers. Half of the town lies next to the levee, outside the proposed path of the border wall. Up to fifty homes, many of them having been occupied by generations of the same family, would have to be demolished or would lie outside the border wall if it were to be constructed in this area.

Vibrant businesses and fertile farms

Near La Lomita Chapel two businesses, Pepe’s on the River and Riverside Club, have been providing local color for decades. Up and down the river in both directions, recreational businesses like these line the river catering to boaters, fishers and winter Texans. The River Bend Resort and Country Club near Brownsville features a unique golf course right on the river. The fate of these businesses, most of them owned and operated by families who have close ties to the communities, is unknown.

The Rio Grande is not only the source of our drinking water for border communities; it is also the mainstay of the economy via the irrigation that fuels this still largely agricultural area. The water from the Rio Grande has made farming possible in this semi-arid region. DHS has not been able to say to what extent the border wall will impact irrigation flow, but farmers fear that a wall would cut them off from the irrigation pumps that bring water into their fields. The richest fields adjacent to the river may also be lost along with the considerable acreage that it would take to build a two-layer wall. Under eminent domain, fair market value is determined by the government, not the landowner, placing farmers at risk of suffering a significant financial loss.

Ties to the other side

The Rio Grande region was settled before the Declaration of Independence was written. Land on both sides of the river was parceled out by the King of Spain in the 1760s, and many people trace their heritage back to that era. Roma and Ciudad Miguel Alemán were originally one city, and extended families straddle both sides of the river. Upstream, near Presidio, rancher Bill Bishop puts it this way, "This part of the world, everybody is related to everybody else, and everybody is related to everyone on the other side of the border and share a common language."

Many of the economic gains among Texas border cities in recent years are attributable to an influx of Mexican shoppers. It’s estimated that purchases by Mexicans make up 40% of the retail sales in McAllen. New retail developments throughout the Rio Grande Valley owe their existence to Mexican customers, and the growth of manufacturing on the Mexican side of the border has created a population of shoppers for stores in Eagle Pass and Del Rio. This transformation has resulted in an economic upswing for both cities. City governments and economic development corporations up and down the river fear that a wall will be an enormous “Keep Out” sign, and revenue will be lost as consumers are turned away.

If a wall cuts through these communities, they will needlessly sacrifice their centers of community life, their homes and their businesses, their heritage, and their newfound economic success all for a border wall that is meant only to slow illegal immigrants down by five minutes and will do nothing to prevent a terrorist attack.