Stop the wall this spring break.
A year and a half ago, Border Ambassador Jay Johnson-Castro went on a 15 day walk through the Texas communities that will be affected if the Secure Fence Act of 2006—already federal law—becomes a reality. His walk, which he undertook basically alone, was covered by the BBC[1] and other international media, as well as multiple articles in the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express News.[2] Hearing of the walk, Republican Governor Rick Perry (a proponent of the wall) held a press conference about border security in the tiny community of Rio Grande City while Jay was walking through town.
Why would one man require a response from such a powerful person? Why would Governor Perry even care about one Don Quixote-like figure plodding through the long stretches of nothingness? Why would the Houston Chronicle give its front page as a pulpit for a solitary nobody doing something so crazy? These questions have elusive answers, but those familiar with the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s are better equipped to make sense of them than most. Two clues are found in familiar phrases from that generation. “Unearned suffering is redemptive,” which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often said, and “You got to move,” a favorite phrase of the Highlander Folk School—who trained Rosa Parks and others—have oriented my understanding of why a walk can be so powerful.
Following that motto, “You got to move,” this spring break—from March 8th to the 16th—local educators and students, along with religious and civic leaders will walk 115 miles (13 miles each day for 9 days) from Roma to Brownsville as a form of nonviolent direct action. We invite you to partner with us in an alternative spring break, by following this link. http://www.mysignup.com/noborderwallwalk There you will make a commitment to participate and input your information. We will then contact you with the necessary details.
The purpose of this walk is to show support for local landowners who do not want to give the Army Corps of Engineers access to their property. These landowners are facing litigation by the U.S. Government, and are acting very courageously in spite of this threat. Many more landowners would resist the government if they knew they were supported. A second purpose is to gain the attention of the nation, especially during this election year.
Through today’s New York Times,[3] land owner Eloisa Tamez’s plan for resistance was shared with a national audience. Eloisa works closely with Jay Johnson-Castro in the fight to prevent this wall from segregating our community, but she isn’t the only land owner along the proposed fence route. Now is the time to share her story, Jay’s story, and spread the message of our collective struggle. Please join us and invite your friends, family, and neighbors to do the same.
Nonviolent Migration 
January 17, 2008 at 12:49 pm
What is the Source of the Immigration Dilemma?
Companies or corporations exploit cheap labor for the simple reason that it is more affordable than hiring American citizens, but why has labor become so expensive? Laborers get less and less of their paycheck and companies (those not subsidized by government) pay more and more in fees, licensing, basically they’re funding bureaucracy, a bottomless pit. The government is attempting to control the economy, to control human energy.
Mitt Romney just “promised” Michigan he’d boost the automotive industry. How? Force people to buy cars? Mandate a price on cars? It’s utterly ridiculous, but that is what politicians promise time and time again, because we’ve forgotten that production, progress, innovation is not a result of government force, but human effort left alone.
Those companies that are operating under government protection or with government contracts believe the universe is static, that there is a finite supply of goods, of wealth. They are trying to control the economy to wrest from it a greater share of profit and the inevitable result is inefficiency, higher costs, lower earnings, less innovation and progress.
Mexicans and residents of other Central/South American countries come to America to work because the working conditions are either so poor or non-existent in their home countries they are willing to live and work here. Why are conditions so bad that American seem better in comparison? More government interference. More government control. More government planned economies in their home States than here.
Immigrants in the past have become part of American society, most Americans our proud of the fact that America is made up of immigrants (most Americans our immigrants one or two generations removed). The only real immigration problem that exists is fear of change and the majority of that fear is not in the average citizen. Government subsidized companies are subsidized because they saw change in the growing small business model, saw their product becoming less relevant, the shift in thinking about food shopping, transportation – the way Americans buy and sell is changing and what Americans want to buy and sell is changing. Traditionally, though Americans have been great at adapting to change, at least more so than Europe we just have to remember that about ourselves. We need to look at the laws on the books, probably make a lot fewer changes than we expect and get the Federal government back in its proper small-player role and out of business.
The very last thing we need is a wall. It will only result in more expenses, increased disregard for personal liberty – the right to property, and because it will not work we will get discouraged making the problem seem bigger than it is. After all, if humans want to get across a border because things are so terrible (think Berlin here) a wall isn’t going to stop them. Humans can be very determined when they want to live and prosper.