Say no to U.S./Mexico border wall.

This petition addresses the building of a 700 to 2000 mile long immigration wall on the border of the U.S. and Mexico.

Although many argue that this wall is needed to increase security and stem the flow of illegal immigration into the U.S  there are many negative consequences of this fence which are often not mentioned in these debates.

Construction of this proposed border wall would adversely affect the wildlife and ecosystem of the Rio Grande river valley reducing water and crossborder habitat access to countless species of mammals, reptiles and other animals, many of them endangered such as the Jaguar, black bear, pronghorn antelope and many other less impressive yet just as important species.

Also the debate is still ongoing and has not yet been fully resolved concerning the affects of legal and illegal immigration on the U.S. economy.

Many studies show that increased immigration is actually neccessary in the U.S. to maintain our social welfare systems which needs a steady supply of youthful workers to keep funded, these are systems such as social security which sustain millions of retired workers, the elderly and the physically and mentally disabled in America.

Also many U.S. businesses need a supply of low wage workers who are willing to do neccessary jobs that many Americans choose not to do because the physical exertion and risk of injury etc. is too great and the pay is too low for many of us who can easily find other work.

Some of these hard to staff industries include agriculture, resturant work, manufacturing, food production, hotels.....slaughterhouses and meatpacking/processing.

The European Union, Japan, Russia, Singapore and many other countries are now facing serious population declines which many economist agree will adversely affect their economies and social welfare systems in the near future...which if not resolved could force seniors to work into their 70's or 80's which does not seem humane or even realistic.

An easy solution to these population declines is to allow more immigration to make up for the population losses from low birth rates in these countries.

Many of these countries, such as Russia, have also been traditionally opposed to immigration which has intensified population declines to the point of crisis which has caused many of these governments to offer thousands of dollars in cash incentives to their citizens to have children.

Opposition to immigration can often be a reflection of underlying racism, xenophobia or prejudices in these countries which want to keep there countries racially or culturally pure to the detriment of their own country's economies and cultural richness.

Our Mexican brothers and sisters to the south are an asset to the U.S. and the U.S. economy and the financial gains that they make from working here not only help the U.S. through payment of taxes etc. (if illegal immigrants here are allowed to become legal citizens) but the money they send back to their families in Mexico helps to stregnthen the Mexican economy which in turn allows the Mexican government, through these additional resources, to better enforce U.S./Mexico border security by hiring and training border patrol agents.

Another effect of money sent back to Mexico from immigrants in the U.S. is less Mexican citizens turning to the drug trade for income....why risk your life in the drug trade when you have income coming in from relatives who work in the U.S. or you yourself can emmigrate to the U.S. and work. 

The best way to strenghthen U.S. security is to economically stregnthen and empower our neighbors in Mexico.

The mutual dependency created by immigration promotes peace among neighboring countries.

Let's not let our fear and hysteria concerning terrorism and drug cartels etc. override our common sense, compassion and love for our neighbors to the south or cause us to destroy thousand of miles of wildlife habitat and access to water for not only animals but also to people who live on these borders when other solutions are available and likely to be more effective.

Many of the people who now live on or near the Mexican border have lived there and crossed back and fourth and used the water resources of the Rio Grande for many thousands of years, who are we to now build a wall and tell them to go away.

We are blessed as a country not by building an increasingly powerful military or building larger and more massive security fences but through having love and compassion for our neighbors and respecting the land and wildlife which is now under our care and ownership. 

In the words of Jesus Christ:.....

"The foremost commandment is this.....the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength"....."the second commandment is this.....you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'.....there is no greater commandment than these."

We the undersigned agree with the sentiments of the author of this petition and would like to see a ceasation of the planning, implementation and construction of a border wall on the U.S./Mexico Border which is estimated to cost from 4 to 46 billion for the first 850 miles of the wall. 

We would rather see this money used to hire more border patrol agents and train them more effectively and for some of this money to go into conservation efforts to clean up the Rio Grande river system and restore much of the habitat which has already been seriously damaged by border activity and by diversions and pollution of this water for various agricultural and industrial purposes.

Also to use some of this border wall money to help the men, women and children in immigrant detention centers around the U.S., who are often incarcerated for many months or years with poor access to healthcare and lack of adequete safety measures while in detention.