Grijalva spends first Saturday as congresswoman on remote borderland area where wall is being built

Democrat Adelita Grijalva was finally sworn in after more than a month’s delay, and she spent her first weekend as a congresswoman back in Arizona — along a remote section of borderland within her district called the San Rafael Valley.

“This is my official first day of visits in Arizona, in CD7, and I couldn’t imagine a place I’d rather be,” Grijalva told a crowd of several dozen people gathered on a bumpy dirt road there Saturday afternoon.

To the left of the crowd, a row of squat metal slats known as vehicle barriers cut across the San Rafael Valley’s vast, rolling grasslands and delineated the line between the U.S. and Mexico. A roughly milelong stretch of new, 30-foot steel bollard wall loomed in the distance further down the road.

After a trip to Douglas, Grijalva joined a demonstration against that construction organized by local groups. Pinned to her jean jacket was her new congressional lapel, which she said she'd received just 48 hours before arriving.

“It is fighting against these types of projects, that’s the reason why I’m in D.C.,” Grijalva continued. “None of this should be grazed, none of this should be disturbed. This is a place that should be pristine.”

The San Rafael Valley is a biodiversity hotspot used by jaguars, ocelots and other cross-border endangered species. The Trump administration plans to line some 27 miles of it with the new 30-foot wall.

“And this literally is going to have no impact on immigration, it has nothing to do with that. This is just a show of force,” Grijalva said. “We are a community of immigrants, we are a community that has the ports of entry with Mexico, I mean, this is CD7, and when we’re looking at what this administration is doing specifically to target people and our land, I have to add my voice in opposition.”

Grijalva said she wants to revive legislation from her late father to challenge wall construction in places like this.

Environmental groups have filed suit to stop the project, challenging the legality of the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to waive environmental protection laws to speed up construction. But, construction is ongoing while the lawsuit moves forward.