I have been a landowner in Presidio County for the last 25 years and a resident of Redford for the last 11 years. The Army Corps of Engineers, along with the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol, mailed me their “packet” in February of this year. The aerial photographs and diagrams they sent me show that they intend on taking a 230-foot-wide strip of my land, from the river to my back patio, for their unnecessary and illogical, disastrous wall project.
Their description of what they intend to do on my land is as follows: install a 30-foot-high steel bollard wall on a concrete pad, bury electrical lines and fiber optic lines along same, add lights and sensors, grade a 12-foot-wide road on one side and a 24-foot-wide road on the other side.
This land is on the National Historic Register and is also a State Archeological Landmark. It also is a sanctuary for birds, foxes, javelina, reptiles, butterflies and other wildlife; it is a literal oasis in the desert, on the banks of the Rio Grande. If and when this project is completed, I will have vehicular traffic on a constant basis 20 feet from my back patio. During these 11 years, I have never had a single migrant cross my land, nor experienced any crime or theft whatsoever.
Any organization or person who decides to profit off leasing, selling or renting for the purpose of a man camp, will be enriching themselves at the expense of myself and dozens of other property owners. This will be the end of the lives and land we have all worked so hard for—and for most of us this is our retirement plan. Any person who decides they would like to profit off of our misery will never hear the end of it from me and the rest of the community.
I will fight this horrid project with every ounce of energy I have, until the last breath of air leaves my body. After that, my ghost will come back to haunt each and every person who chose monetary gain over human lives. I can assure you my spirit will remain here for centuries, and you will experience the lack of sleep that myself and others have experienced for the last several months.
The Army Corps and private contractors, and those who aid and abet them by providing man camps, can find other work projects to enrich themselves or find other careers. Tragically, the citizens who lose their property and lives, and the beasts of the field who inhabit the desert, and the Rio Grande herself, once we are extinguished, we will never be able to come back. Blood will be on the hands that are exchanging money for this; shame on every one of you who decide to be complicit in the destruction of our hard-earned existences, human and animal.