Congressional Hearing on Border Wall

*** NEWS UPDATE***

BISHOP PEÑA TO SPEAK AT CONGRESSIONAL HEARING ABOUT BORDER WALL

The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville has confirmed that Bishop Raymundo J. Peña will attend a U.S. Congressional field hearing about the border wall on Monday. The hearing takes place at the University of Texas at Brownsville. Peña attended a No Border Wall rally last year.

Field Hearing and Bus Tour to Highlight Impacts of Border Wall

What: A U.S. Congressional field hearing on the Border Wall and a press bus tour organized by Lower Rio Grande Valley residents

When: Monday, April 28th, at 10am

Where: Brownsville, Texas on the campus of the University of Texas at Brownsville

A U.S. Congressional field hearing will be held in Brownsville, Texas on Monday, April 28th, starting at 10am. The hearing, entitled Walls and Waivers: Expedited Construction of the Southern Border Wall and the Collateral Impacts on Communities and the Environment, will be held in the Lecture Hall of the Science, Engineering and Technology Building (SET-B) at the University of Texas-Brownsville (UTB).

The hearing is a joint effort of Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), chair of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands and Representative Madeleine Z. Bordallo (Guam-at large), chair of the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans. Both subcommittees are part of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Among those invited to testify are two U.S. Congressmen, Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), Dr. Juliet Garcia, president of UTB, Ralph Basham, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and Ned Norris, Jr., chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Following the hearing, Texas State Representative Eddie Lucio III, whose district includes parts of Brownsville, is hosting a bus tour of areas due to be directly affected by the border wall. The bus tour is intended to provide a better understanding of the border wall issue. It is being organized by Representative Lucio’s office and concerned citizens of the Rio Grande Valley. Various members of the community will be on the bus tour and available for interviews.

The bus tour will begin on the UTB campus. The proposed wall cuts through part of the campus. The tour will continue on to the Sabal Palm Audubon Center. This 557-acre sanctuary is one of several wildlife refuges on the Rio Grande that may no longer be accessible to the public if the proposed wall is built. Another stop on the tour will be at the small community of El Calaboz, where the wall will slice through private land. The tour will end at Hope Park in historic downtown Brownsville. Hope Park is a short walk from old buildings that are in the wall’s path. Barbecue at the park will be provided for all attending.

Directions to the hearing: Heading southeast on US-77/US-83, exit on International Blvd. Turn right on International. Turn left onto the campus at Ridgely Road.

For more information and to book a seat on the bus tour, please contact Betty Pérez at 956-580-8915 or email her at bettygraceperez@gmail.com.