Might Be the Last Thanksgiving Meal on the Border for Many Landowners
The following is a statement from Douglas Rivlin, Director of Communication at America’s Voice in regards to CNN’s report that the Trump administration is sending “Right of Entry” letters to landowners along the border in California, New Mexico and Texas, which grant the government the ability to survey private land along the border for use for the wall. This is the first step in the process of taking land from private owners to build Trump’s autographed border wall:
What a lovely gift to these families ahead of the holiday: ‘Happy Thanksgiving, we’re taking your land.’ We already knew the Trump and his cronies have little appreciation for the reality around people’s lives along the border; but to pillage land, which in some cases has been family-owned for generations, feels particularly egregious at a time when we are celebrating the Pilgrim’s story of finding peace and prosperity in America. It is more reminiscent of the history of the United States pushing out America’s indigenous people, stealing their land and taking it for the government’s use.
In this case, we are stealing private land to erect a wall for the sole purpose of keeping people from ‘shithole countries’ out of America in service of Trump’s campaign promises and to satisfy the chants at his campaign rallies. As we approach 2020, campaigns should be focusing on ways for America to progress as a nation, not harkening back to the days when property was stolen from locals in service of a white nationalist agenda. What started as a racist campaign chant to help candidate Trump remember to pump up his crowds has become a critical component for Trump’s reelection, and an obsession that knows no bounds. The only way to stop wall construction of this vanity project is to get Trump and his white supremacist henchman Stephen Miller out of office.
