Protesters are trying to halt border wall construction along a remote stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona by staging a tree sit-in.
Late last year, the Trump administration announced it had awarded the Arizona work to Fisher Sand and Gravel Co., a North Dakota-based construction firm that received some $2 billion worth of contracts to build the border wall under the first Trump administration.
Earlier this week, contractors here cut down three out of four cottonwoods that sit right along the border, to make room for the two parallel walls.
Kate Scott is the founder of a southern Arizona environmental group called the Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center. Speaking from the site Thursday morning, she says the border grove is estimated to be well over 200 years old and hosts several migratory bird species. She and others are trying to save the last tree from demolition.
“We call it an ancient, sacred grove, because it is. It's been here since time immemorial, I mean the trees were smaller then, but there's layers of cultures here,” Scott said.
A protester sat on a large wooden platform perched some 50 feet up in the thick branches of the remaining cottonwood tree. Customs and Border Protection says it is still slated for removal.
Protesters have been stationed at the site since Wednesday, and by Thursday, contractors had still not approached the tree.
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Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is again asking the federal government to reimburse Arizona for border security spending. -
The facility on the Arizona-Sonora border is set to become the second sterile fly dispersal facility in the United States, as the country looks to beat back the spread of the flesh-eating parasite. -
The grove is located in Lochiel, Arizona, a tiny town some 25 miles east of Nogales. One protester was arrested there on Monday, as construction crews moved in on the trees. -
A train derailment spilled 15,000 gallons of sodium hydrosulfide near the Naco border crossing into Arizona. -
The reopening will start at the Douglas-Agua Prieta, Mexico, border crossing in late August after a more than yearlong closure to protect against the parasite.
