‘Say no border wall’

Local residents gathered Saturday afternoon on the banks of the Rio Grande near Alice Hope Park to protest the government’s construction of a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

And, their message was clear: “say no border wall,” as the group linked their hands forming a human wall.

The groups of more than 100 demonstrators marched down Elizabeth Street as they headed toward the Jacob Brown Auditorium on International Boulevard.

Jorge Martinez, a student at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, said the construction of a border wall would be a burden to tax payers, and stood firm on his word that he did not want for such a wall to go up.

“It sends a bad message to the rest of the world,” the junior communication major said. “China tried (built a wall) and it didn’t work.”

Martinez is skeptical a border wall would be the most appropriate solution to stop the immigration spill into the U.S.

“The Berlin Wall (did not work),” he said. “People risked their lives to get across, (in Germany) and some people lost their lives.”

Martinez said nothing will stop immigrants from coming to the U.S. looking for what he calls the “American Dream.”

He does support the concept of a “virtual wall,” which would allow U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents to keep a watchful eye on the close to 2,000 miles of border, which stretches from San Diego, Calif., to Brownsville, through the use of radar, high-technological computer advances and satellite, among others.

However, Martinez, said the most efficient way to find a solution to immigration would be an immigration reform that would grant amnesty to the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

Mario Garza, another student at UTB-TSC, yelled “no to the border wall,” while the group marched down Elizabeth Street.

He asked, “Do you think a wall is going to stop it (immigration)?” And then yelled, “no,” as crowds cheered him on.

Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos was also in attendance at the rally and told the crowd that late last week, while in Washington, D.C., he learned some officials there, are also opposed to the construction of the wall.

“Salomon Ortiz, (D-Corpus) is against the wall,” Cascos said. “We have to do something, we have to protect our border.”

He suggest the building of a “much-needed” weir on the banks of the Rio Grande, which would allow for a reservoir for water, and if a hurricane were to ever make land fall in the area, the weir would help collect water.

“The water has no place to go right now,” he said. “Our levee system can not support a category three hurricane.”

The group chanted and yelled as the young hit a piñata in the shape of a wall in front of the Jacob Brown Auditorium.

When the piñata broke, the group yelled and cheered, “no border wall, no border wall.”

J. Johnson Castro, a grassroots activist, said no border wall is going up anytime soon.

“We are going to tear the wall before it’s built,” he assured. “We are opposed to the wall.”