Many fear a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border could block the public from accessing many local historical landmarks and natural treasures.
“Well this old chapel goes back to the 1800’s, when the first oblates came to preach the gospel here in the Valley,” said Father Roy Snipes of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.
Father Roy uses the historic La Lomita Mission as a shrine many times throughout the year. He says that although the wall’s purpose may be to protect the country from drug-related violence or terrorism, he wonders what’s to become of everything that would remain behind the proposed barrier.
“We wouldn’t be violent, but I don’t know,” Snipes said. “I guess if there is a 20-foot wall, I can get a 25-foot ladder and come over here and say mass, but the viejitas won’t be able to make it over the ladder. I don’t know what we’ll do.”
After plans were developed by Dannenbaum Engineering for a 30-mile, border-levee wall rehabilitation project, Stefanie Herweck with the Sierra Club says she thinks local eco-tourism would be the first thing affected.
“We also know that border walls don’t stop people, that it takes seconds to climb a border wall,” said Herweck. “But that’s not the case for terrestrial wildlife, who are blocked by walls and habitats fragmented.”
The Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club, along with other Valley organizations, will be hosting a peaceful protest at La Lomita on Saturday, Aug.12. They will also host a protest hike at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday, Aug. 13.
