8/13/2023 0 Comments U.s. rep. filemon vela wall 2019The fight against construction near the land began in September 2018, when Ramirez and her brother Ramiro Ramirez - descendants of abolitionist Nathanial Jackson, who moved to the Rio Grande Valley in the late 1850s - began a campaign to bring awareness to the public about the potential negative impact border wall construction near the historic church and cemetery would cause.Īt the time it was believed the construction would rip through the church and cemetery, but discussions with U.S. Ramirez only speaks for the Jackson Ranch Church Cemetery. The property, the Jackson Ranch Church Cemetery in San Juan, is a designated historical marker known as the first Spanish-speaking Methodist Church and is the resting place for many of Ramirez's relatives.Īdjacent to this property lays the Eli Jackson Cemetery, part of, but separate to the church and cemetery. She learned through her attorney mid-August, as part of ongoing litigation with the government over construction near the land in San Juan, that the government would begin building a border wall on the current levee that leads into the property by the end of the month. Now, more than a year after tireless efforts to save their cemetery and church, which included working with congressional members to introduce legislation that would support their cause, Ramirez tells The Monitor that the property is once again in danger of being bordered off by planned construction. Ramiro Ramirez, caretaker for the historic Jackson Ranch Chapel cemetery.About a year ago Sylvia Ramirez and her family thought they had saved a historic church and cemetery tied to her ancestors from border wall construction that would essentially "wall" them off from the rest of the country. I wouldn’t have raised my children three miles away from the border if it were any other way,” said Dr. The truth is that there is no emergency at the border besides the one this administration created. “Sins of omission and sins of commission have been committed against all those who live on the border. Joseph Archie, District Superintendent of the United Methodist Church, from Wilmington, DE. And so we stand together with people who are being impacted on the border and we stand up for what is right and just.” said Rev. It is a place of spiritual nourishment and refuge for the community. It also has connections to the Underground Railroad. “The Eli Jackson Chapel and Ranch symbolize who we are as the United Methodist Church and even who we are as a nation - bilingual, multicultural, and multiracial. We ask Congress to stop funding the wall, protect our historic and sacred sites,” said Tricia Cortez, Executive Director at Rio Grande International Study Center. They have become complicit in one of the more lamentable chapters in border history. “The federal government wants to cage us up and rip us apart from our lands and our river. We continue to fight and we continue to bring the voices of those most impacted here so that Congress understands what’s really at stake,” urged Raul Garcia, Legislative Director of Healthy Communities at Earthjustice. The Carrizo Comecrudo tribe, the Ramirez Family, the descendants of the Jackson Family, the Rio Grande International Study Center, and all of the other plaintiffs that Earthjustice is representing in court fighting this need you to stand by the values that you’ve been preaching all along. “As Congress discusses appropriations bills, think about the sacredness of these places and the land as a whole that First Nations have had for centuries. The sites are home to the final resting places of veterans from both World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. In mid-March, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of families, Tribal leaders, and environmental advocates along the border alleging “real and dire impacts for communities living along the border,” including potential exhumation and desecration of loved ones’ and veterans’ remains at the 154-year old Eli Jackson Cemetery and 145-year-old Jackson Ranch Church and Cemetery in Texas. But construction of the border wall comes at the expense of our nation’s brave veterans from both World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.” “Since his election, President Trump has tried to obtain border wall funding through any source, regardless of legality or consequence. “President Trump’s illegal emergency declaration at the border is a clear attempt to circumvent Congress to provide more money for the border wall,” said Vela. Filemon Vela (TX-34) was joined by faith leaders from United Methodist Church, environmental advocates from Earthjustice and families affected by wall construction to urge Congress to protect sacred sites across the Southern border from Trump’s border wall.
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