National Campaign Against the Border Wall: Activist Kits Available

No Border Wall Coalition has developed two national campaigns designed to amplify the anti-wall message during the presidential campaign season. (See below for details.) We hope that these projects can help diverse groups and individuals unite and build a strong national movement against the border wall ahead of the new Congress and new administration.

We would appreciate your help publicizing and distributing materials and facilitating these initiatives. If you are interested, we can send you a kit that includes a slideshow presentation CD, project worksheets, and a border wall factsheet. The slideshow is a 12 minute overview of the border wall issue and covers the entire southern border. Please request materials from noborderwall@yahoo.com.

Here are descriptions of the campaigns:

National Letter Writing Campaign: This campaign is targeted to those groups working outside of the border region or to border groups for which the wall has not been a central focus. It consists of a Letter-Writing Campaign Kit, which we will send upon request. The kit contains a 12-minute slide presentation which is an overview of the damages that border walls cause or will cause and features compelling photos from all along the border (thanks to many of you), a factsheet, and a letter-writing worksheet. The ideal use for the kit is for groups to set aside 45 min to 1 hour in their meeting program to view the slideshow, discuss the issue and write letters to their US senators.

Border Wall Documentation Project: This campaign is designed to bring together all of the activist groups and individuals along the border for a single mission: to document the negative impacts of the border wall and border wall construction, as well as the abuse, neglect and incompetence of DHS, CBP and Border Patrol in its implementation of the border wall project. It calls upon border residents to bear witness to the destruction caused by the border wall and the abuse perpetrated by DHS and to report the destruction and abuse to Congress. Many border residents were able to document the potential damage of the border wall in their areas during the Environmental Impact Statement process. However, now that Chertoff has waived the laws, there is no longer any official process through which damages will be documented. What we would like to do with the border wall documentation project is reinstate such a process border-wide and compile documents for use in anti-wall lobbying efforts, Congressional hearings and lawsuits. If we get a good response, we might also be able to assemble an online database which could be useful well into the future, even in future efforts to bring down existing walls. Joining together for such an important project will also help us all get to know one another and other sympathetic border groups, create solidarity, and give us an opportunity to speak with one voice.