The San Rafael Valley border wall protest is now binational.
An August 18 press release from the online Sonoran Desert Press Office reports a first sighting of a tree-sitter on the Mexico side of the border in the San Rafael Valley. And Center for Biological Diversity’s Russ McSpadden has put up an Instagram piece about the same news.
The tree being sat in is another “grandmother” cottonwood at the fence line, with overhanging major branches and of course, roots that cross the divide. Together with the “sit” on the American side, this new action is latest step in a growing grassroots movement to halt construction of a double wall in the Lochiel area, effectively blocking both layers of wall.
McSpadden’s Instragram post pays tribute to the growing momentum and attracted nearly 3,000 “likes” in the first four hours after posting.
“I almost have no words. From Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, the Tohono O’odham Nation and California communities are standing and saying yes to unity, no to the wall, yes to the wild, no to steel and militarization.”
Zach Palma, a resident of both Naco, Sonora, and Naco, Arizona, told the Sonoran Desert Press Office: “This resistance isn’t new, but there’s new energy behind our binational community, gathering together against this physical and social attack on our home. If this wall is built, history will show that it was done against the will of the people who call this land home. And we have a specific long-term agenda item: to bring this wall down.”
Ruben Peralta, former mayor of Santa Cruz, Sonora, reported from the Mexican side of the border that he was told a deal had been made between constructions crews and protesters to halt construction in the area where cones had been placed to protect the trees. The PRT could not independently confirm his accouint.