General Info
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Open Letter to Buenos Aires and Department of the Interior |
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Tuesday, 16 June 2009 15:02 |
With this letter we request a meeting between Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR) officials, the Department of the Interior and humanitarian, human rights, environmental and faith organizations to take place no later than two weeks from today’s date, in order to discuss ways that we can cooperate to prevent additional death and suffering on the U.S. / Mexico border and the federal lands it transects.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Secretary Ken Salazar, Department of the Interior
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240
Michael Hawkes, Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 109
Sasabe, AZ 85633
CC:
Rowan Gould, United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Robert Gilbert, United States Border Patrol, Tucson Sector
Diane J. Humetewa, United States Attorney for the District of Arizona
Secretary Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security
Representative Raúl Grijalva
Representative Gabrielle Giffords
President Barack Obama
With this letter we request a meeting between Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR) officials, the Department of the Interior and humanitarian, human rights, environmental and faith organizations to take place no later than two weeks from today’s date, in order to discuss ways that we can cooperate to prevent additional death and suffering on the U.S. / Mexico border and the federal lands it transects.
Since 1994, it is estimated that more than 5,000 men, women and children have died attempting to cross the United States / Mexico border. Human remains have been recovered on federal lands managed by the Department of the Interior; since October 1, 2008, eight of these deaths occurred on the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge or lands directly adjacent.
In response to this tragedy, humanitarian groups in southern Arizona are working to prevent additional death and suffering by providing water and medical care to those in need. On two separate occasions, U.S. Fish and Wildlife officers have ticketed humanitarian volunteers for placing clean drinking water along known migrant trails; additionally, BANWR officials have threatened further punitive action against humanitarian efforts on the refuge. At the same time, representatives of BANWR have consistently resisted efforts by humanitarian groups to work cooperatively with the refuge to ensure that drinking water is available for those who need it, in a manner appropriate to the environmental sensitivity of the area.
Prosecution of humanitarian efforts is wrong. We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, call upon the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to live up to their mandate to “encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man “ (42usc4321, Congressional Declaration of Purpose) – by joining us to prevent needless death on federal lands.
We recognize the environmental damage caused by current U. S. border enforcement policies, which have funneled unauthorized migration onto federally protected lands. In addition, critical habitat for endangered and protected wildlife has been damaged by the construction of roads, walls and related enforcement infrastructure, with minimal public oversight and environmental consideration due to Section 102 the Real ID Act.
For more than a decade, U.S. border enforcement strategy has been predicated on deterring unauthorized migration by making the journey into the United States as treacherous as possible. The results of this strategy are clear: while the United States has consistently failed to achieve its enforcement objectives, the ‘strategy of deterrence’ and corresponding militarization of the landscape are directly responsible for the tragic loss of human life in the deserts of Arizona.
We recognize the complexity of this issue and the difficulty of maintaining environmental stewardship in the shadow of competing and sometimes contradictory federal mandates. However, since the deadliest summer months are upon us, we reiterate the urgency of a meeting within the next two weeks. It is our expectation that a meeting between BANWR officials, the Department of the Interior and humanitarian, human rights, environmental and faith organizations will allow cooperative efforts to prevent additional death and suffering on the U.S. / Mexico border and the federal lands it transects. Together, we re-affirm our commitment to work with all members of our community, including the United States government, to end the humanitarian and environmental crises on the border.
It is our firm belief that faith, good sense, civic responsibility and the law require us to do so. The era of border enforcement that uses death as a deterrent must come to an end.
Sincerely,
No More Deaths Tucson
No More Deaths Flagstaff
No More Deaths Phoenix
Humane Borders
Tucson Samaritans
Green Valley Samaritans
Other signatories of this letter include:
(Individual affiliation may not denote institutional endorsement)
8th Day Center for Justice, Chicago
Thomas Acker, Western Colorado Justice for Immigrants Committees
American Friends Service Committee – US/Mexico Border Program, San Diego
Tom Barry, Center for International Policy, Washington, D.C.
Border Action Network, Tucson
Border Ambassadors, Texas
Border Angels, San Diego
Borderlinks, Tucson
Rev. Kate Bradsen, The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona
Fr. Robert Carney, Diocese of Tucson
Rev. Sean Carroll, S.J., Executive Director, Kino Border Initiative, Nogales, AZ
Casa Baltimore/Limay, Baltimore, MD
Center for Biological Diversity
Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition
Citizens for Border Solutions, Bisbee, Arizona
Coalición Derechos Humanos, Tucson
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, Silver Spring, Maryland
Comunidad Liberación/Liberation Community, United Church of Christ, Denver
Rev. Diane Dowgiert, Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson
The East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Berkeley
Roy Emrick, Board Member, Friends of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge , and Vice Chair of the Sierra Club Rincon Group
Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Florence, Arizona
Foundation 4 Change, San Diego
Rev. John Fife, Presbytery de Cristo
Frontera de Cristo, Douglas, Arizona
Gatekeeper Productions, LLC, Los Angeles
Gente Unida, San Diego
Global Exchange, San Francisco
Grand Valley Peace and Justice, Grand Junction, Colorado
Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA
Rev. Alison Harrington, Southside Presbyterian Church, Tucson
Hispanic Affairs Pastoral Project, HAPP, Montrose, Colorado
International League of Conservation Photographers, Washington, D.C.
Mark Johnson, Executive Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation
Rev. Cindy Kristopeit, Chairperson, Conference Commission on Religion and Race, Desert Southwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
Mary Bundy, RN, Latin American/Carribean Committee of Loretto Community, Denver
Latin America Working Group Education Fund, Washington, D.C.
Rev. Ben Larson-Wolbrink, Presbyterian Campus Ministry, Tucson
Rev. Gretchen Larson-Wolbrink, Presbytery de Cristo
Rev. Gene Lefebvre, Presbytery of the Grand Canyon
Rev. Susan Manker Seale, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Northwest Tucson
May 1st Coalition, Tucson
Rev. Randy J. Mayer, Good Shepherd UCC, Sahaurita and Good Samaritans, Green Valley/Sahaurita
National Lawyers' Guild Student Chapter, University of Arizona Rogers College of Law
Rev. Gusti Newquist, St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, Tucson
Rev. Briget Nicholson, First Congregational United Church of Christ
No Border Wall Coalition
Chris O'Byrne, Board Member, Friends of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, Portland
Oregon New Sanctuary Movement
Organizing for America of Piney Creek, Colorado
Rio Grande International Study Center, Laredo, Texas
Rev. Rod Richards, Unitarian Universalist Church of Southeast Arizona (Sierra Vista)
Jonathan Rothschild, Chair, & Josh Protas, Senior VP for Planning and Community Affairs, Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona
Rev. Seth Polley, Border Missioner, The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona
SHARE Foundation: Building a New El Salvador Today
Southern Arizona Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
Rev. Dr. Gil Stafford, Vicar St. Augustine’s Episcopal Parish and Chaplain Episcopal Campus Ministry Arizona State University
Rev. Stuart Taylor, St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, Tucson
Rick Ufford-Chase, Executive Director, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Stony Point, New York
Rev. James T. Watson, First Congregational United Church of Christ, Loveland, Colorado.
Witness for Peace Northwest
Witness for Peace Southwest
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