Resolution on the US/Mexican Border Wall

This resolution on the wall between the US and Mexico is currently under discussion by the Albany Confessing Clergy.  This is still the draft version of this resolution.  

Tear Down This Wall – A Resolution

Whereas, “we are called by God to speak out about critical matters of humanity, justice, and spiritual integrity in a conflicted and confused day… we resolve to be diligent stewards of God’s creation and support eco-justice for all people of our one planet… we resolve to work for economic justice in our own communities and for all of God’s children throughout the world,”[1] and

Whereas, the construction of the border fence (the Wall), which will consist of nearly 700 miles of fences and barriers along the US/Mexico border, is just such a critical matter, and

Whereas, paradoxical and conflicted US policy as well as unscrupulous employers' practices encourage human trafficking, exploitation and slave labor conditions for undocumented immigrants desperate for work, including an increasing number of young people; and

Whereas, more than 5000 people have died or been killed trying to cross the US/Mexican border in the last thirteen years; and

Whereas, as a result of the building of the Wall, there has been a marked increase in the number of undocumented people trying to cross the Sonoran Desert and the Baboquivari Mountain in Arizona, creating the likelihood of even higher casualties; and

Whereas, to speed the construction of the Wall, in April, 2008, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff “waived in their entirety” the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act as well as several international treaties, without any possibility of judicial review, thus putting the Bush administration above the law; [2] and

Whereas, the US/Mexico border crosses a biologically diverse region of desert, mangrove forests, plains, mountains, river valleys, and wetlands, and is home for many rare and endangered species; and the Wall, along with roads, lights and power facilities, is being built along large portions of it without any genuine environmental assessment; and 

Whereas, 60-75 % of the protected lands and refuges in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas will be affected by the Wall, which will block river access and destroy essential vegetation for many native and migratory species, including endangered species and fragile ecosystems along the Rio Grande, butterfly migration corridors and the future of three species of local wildcats: the ocelot, the jaguarundi, and the jaguar;[3] and

Therefore, be it Resolved the we, the undersigned,

Call upon the federal government to:

• Stop the construction of the Wall and tear down those portions already completed;
  
• Enter into sustained diplomatic discussions with the government of Mexico and the Organization of American States to create and implement policies that will encourage real solutions to the security needs of the US, resolution of the economic conditions which continue to force people to migrate to the US, and the protection of endangered species and ecosystems on both sides of the border.
  

Communicate this action to:

• The Presbytery of Albany, recommending its adoption;
• All other Presbyteries, Synods and the General Assembly;
• Our representatives in the federal legislature, and the President of the United States.

Draft presented by: The Rev. Cass L. Shaw, April 24, 2008