Nonviolent Austin Joins Border Buoy Protests & Wins Reprieve
A crowd of over 70 people gathered outside of Governor Greg Abbott’s Mansion to protest allegations of migrant mistreatment at the border on July 28, 2023.
Nonviolent Austin is part of our Nonviolent Cities Project which fosters nonviolence skills and actions in communities nationwide. Learn more here.
Nonviolent Austin was part of a coalition of groups that organized a protest of Texas Governor Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star in front of the Governor's Mansion on Friday, July 28th. Operation Lone Star is a border patrolling mission that recently came under intense scrutiny for inhumane treatment of migrants. A whistleblower came forward and revealed cruelties, gross violations of human rights, and other actions that led to deaths. The border operation had placed a buoy in the middle of the Rio Grande River and miles of concertina wire along the shore. Border guards had been ordered to push migrant children back into the river rather than allow them to reach the United States.
A crowd of over 70 people gathered to protest at the Texas Governor's Mansion thanks to outreach by partner groups including Texas Poor People's Campaign, Border Network for Human Rights, Reform Immigration Texas Alliance, Our Vote Texas, Mothers Against Greg Abbott, and Indivisible Austin.
Judy Gradford, a member of the coordinating committee of the Texas Poor People's Campaign, shared her research on what constitutes crimes against humanity, and called for Abbott's prosecution at the International Criminal Court for the imposition of buoys in the middle of the Rio Grande and coils upon coils of concertina (razor) wire along the banks on the US side.
The Raging Grannies provided music, both singing and leading the assembled group in song.
Juanita Martinez, an activist from Eagle Pass, the border city where Operation Lone Star has focused most in recent months, spoke movingly about the effects on her hometown, and about seeing the physical and psychological damage being done to desperate immigrants of all ages. Four faith leaders from Austin eloquently opposed the buoys and razor wire from the perspective of their respective faith traditions.
As MC and organizer, and a member of both Nonviolent Austin and the Texas Poor People's Campaign, I spoke last. Here is what I shared with the group in front of the Governor's Mansion:
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said one of the six principles of nonviolence is "Problems Not People: Attack forces of evil, not persons doing evil." In keeping with that, we need to see ourselves as loving Governor Greg Abbott in the best, most prophetic way—as freeing him from possession by forces of evil!
In the Poor People's Campaign we talk about the five interlocking evils we oppose: Poverty; White Supremacist Racism; our War Economy; Environmental Destruction; and the False Moral Narrative of Religious Nationalism. Today, we're staring all five in the face. Poverty—the people crossing the Rio Grande are poor, and it's their poverty, and the poverty and other violence in their countries of origin, that's compelling them to cross. Racism—they are primarily people of color, historically dehumanized by the US at its worst, including by official policies like those we oppose today. War Economy—we militarize domestic law enforcement and treat refugees and asylum seekers as enemy combatants, diverting funds from housing, education, medicine, and our common food supply. Environmental Destruction—buoys and razor wire in the Rio Grande?! The Rio Bravo? I grew up in Del Rio, 55 miles upstream from Eagle Pass. When I was a kid, the Amistad Dam was built, creating Lake Amistad, a token of friendship between Mexico and the US. What has become of that friendship in the past half century? And what has it meant for agriculture, wildlife, human security and solidarity? Environmental Destruction! And buoys and razor wire are part and parcel of that. And last but not least, the False Moral Narrative of Religious Nationalism—When our politicians close their speeches with "God bless America," do we hear it in an exclusive sense? God bless us but not those others? If we take that exclusive interpretation, we must see ourselves as outside of any of the major religious traditions that see the divine in universal terms, as creating and loving all unconditionally.
We need a movement of repentance in the form of turning 180 degrees from these moral evils. We are that movement! Please repeat after me: WE ARE THAT MOVEMENT!
As we say in the Poor People's Campaign: "Forward together, not one step back!" I'll say "forward together " three times, and each time, you respond with "not one step back!"
FORWARD TOGETHER! NOT ONE STEP BACK!
FORWARD TOGETHER! NOT ONE STEP BACK!
FORWARD TOGETHER! NOT ONE STEP BACK!Thank you.
Four days after the rally in Austin, activists and reporters gathered in Eagle Pass. I joined them at the invitation of Juanita Martinez. Three major events happened there through the day, Tuesday, August 1st. First, Jesse Fuentes, the kayak guide who has sued Governor Abbott for the way Operation Lone Star has devastated his business, led a flotilla of kayaks and canoes to the point where the buoys are in the water. Along the way we saw about forty people, in groups of six up to a dozen, children of the age of three or four, and even babies being carried among them, preparing to cross the razor wire on the US bank and turn themselves in to law enforcement officials.
I was somewhat prepared to see the buoys and wire, but less prepared to see the people, and to hear some of their stories. There was a young man named Wendell who was on two crutches and had crossed the river, trying to decide where to try to cross the wire. He left his wife and two kids in Venezuela a couple of months ago. He had been robbed a couple of times along the way, had his life threatened by cartel members, and broke down crying as he told us of his journey.
Late afternoon found us in front of the city hall for a press conference and protest. The focus was on the affidavit the mayor had signed unilaterally, declaring a city park on the river bank private property so the authorities could arrest the migrants for trespassing. The press documented this event thoroughly, too, and numerous concerned citizens from towns all along the border testified.
Finally, the third major event of the day was the city council meeting, at which many of the same people who had been on the flotilla and had spoken at the press conference pled with the council to rescind the mayor's affidavit.
After going through a long list of other agenda items, the council went into executive session. When they reconvened, the activists were elated to learn that the action declaring the park private property had been unanimously rescinded!
It was one small victory in what can only be a protracted struggle, but it was a great day for nonviolent people's power.
Learn more about this issue and demonstrations through these news reports:
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/protesters-governors-mansion-greg-abbott-border-policy