1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,400 Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, the government was going to 2 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: build eighteen foot high seal wall between US and our neighbor. 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: It didn't make sense to me at any level. 4 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,640 Speaker 2: From futro media and PRX, It's Latino USA. I'm Maria 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 2: ino Josa. Today the fight led by a pioneering Latina 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 2: against the US government. Her mission stoped border wall construction 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 2: on her university campus. This October will mark fifteen years 8 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 2: since President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act 9 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 2: of two thousand and six. 10 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: The bill I'm about to sign as an important step 11 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: in our nation's. 12 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 3: Efforts to secure our border and reform our immigration system. 13 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 2: Congress approved the Act with bipartisan support, authorizing nearly seven 14 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 2: hundred miles of new barrier along the southwestern border with Mexico. 15 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 2: Up until this point, just a few dozen miles of 16 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 2: borderwall had been built, and that happened under Democratic President 17 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 2: Bill Clinton. Under President George W. Bush, the Secure Fence 18 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 2: Act would focus on militarizing the nearly two thousand mile 19 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 2: long border with Mexico. The Act allowed vehicle barriers, checkpoints, 20 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 2: increased uses of satellites, cameras, and other technologies. Order property 21 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 2: owners would soon receive letters from the federal government asking 22 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 2: them for permission to enter and survey their land. This 23 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 2: would lead to legal battles and property seizures, with many 24 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 2: of these moving into new administrations today. Reporter Aaron Nelson 25 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 2: takes us to a university in Brownsville, Texas, where doctor 26 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 2: Juliet Garcia led a legal battle against border wall construction. 27 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 2: This case as a reminder of the fights many continued, 28 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 2: a wage against an opponent almost impossible to defeat. Here's 29 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 2: Aaron Nelson. 30 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 4: One overcast morning in late spring, doctor Juliet Garcia stands 31 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 4: at the walled entrance of a defunct golf course. Overgrown 32 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 4: palm fronds obscure the welcome sign where the University of 33 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 4: Texas Brownsville golf team was headquartered. The golf course was 34 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 4: popular with retirees and young golfers, hosting tournaments for local 35 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 4: high schools and countless thousands of rounds of golf every year. 36 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 5: It is part of what we're trying to build here. 37 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,239 Speaker 4: But that's gone now. What lies beyond the wall today 38 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,399 Speaker 4: is a no man's land, an outcome of a Goliath 39 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 4: versus David kind of battle. This story begins in late 40 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 4: two thousand and seven, a few months after the Secure 41 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:48,239 Speaker 4: Fence Act became law, the federal government targeted UTB's land 42 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 4: and other private land to try and build a border wall. 43 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 4: As president of the university, doctor Garcia was forced to 44 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 4: step away from the classrooms and into the forefront of 45 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 4: an unexpected fight to protect the un institution she had 46 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 4: helped create. 47 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 5: Nobody wants to take on an issue like this, you know. 48 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 5: I mean, my job was to hire faculty, not fight 49 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 5: Department of Homeland Security. 50 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 4: But did she really have any other option? 51 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 5: I never imagined that we could have taken any other 52 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 5: path than what we did. And we didn't choose the fight. 53 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 5: It chose us. But once it did, then we had 54 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:26,920 Speaker 5: no other choice but then to take it on. 55 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 4: In truth, she had been fighting most of her life. 56 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 4: Juliet Garcia was born in Brownsville in the late nineteen forties. 57 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 4: The city sits at the southernmost tip of Texas, across 58 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 4: from Mexico, Yet the line between here and there was 59 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 4: a fluid thing, like the Rio Grande as it cuts 60 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 4: a winding path through the fertile soil. She was a 61 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 4: child of. 62 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: The border, and so the border for us has always 63 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: been a blurred kind of place to live. You know, 64 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: we learned very young to to convert to bessos to dollars, 65 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: and centigrade to fahrenheit and guilos to pounds. 66 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 4: Garcia's passion for academics started at an early age. She 67 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 4: and her two older brothers aspired to go to college, 68 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 4: which in the late sixties, she says, meant having to 69 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 4: leave the border. Garcia majored in speech in English at 70 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 4: the University of Houston. That's where she discovered her passion 71 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 4: for public speaking and joined the debate team. Growing up 72 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 4: with brothers had taught her how to play, fight, make up, 73 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,599 Speaker 4: and then keep on playing. In college, she would do 74 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 4: the same, but to fight different kinds of battles. 75 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: I had grown up living with guys and knew how 76 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: to deal with men very comfortably. So I was more practiced, 77 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: perhaps in that environment than other women might have been. 78 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: And so management and leadership and hire ed is what 79 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: drew me forward. 80 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 4: After receiving her bachelor's degree, she moved back to South Texas, 81 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 4: then traveled back to Houston to pursue a master's and 82 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 4: eventually a doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin. 83 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 4: While away, the border was never far from her thoughts 84 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 4: or heart. She took a job back in Brownsville at 85 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 4: Texas Southmost College TSC. She taught speech, communication and linguistics. 86 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 4: Her career was taking off, but she was frustrated. She 87 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 4: wanted to bring the kind of academic opportunities she experienced 88 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 4: in Houston and Austin back to her hometown. 89 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: I kept thinking, why don't we have that in the valley. 90 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: I mean, how many people could go away to go 91 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,919 Speaker 1: to school. Not many, or mobile, and certainly don't have 92 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: the resources to be able to get scholarships. 93 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 4: Doctor Garcia concluded that TSC needed to think bigger and 94 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 4: promised herself that she would push for change. So in 95 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 4: nineteen seventy seven, when the TSC president position became vacant, 96 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 4: she applied. 97 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: I was twenty eight, and I remember telling my husband 98 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 1: I was going to apply for the presidency. I was 99 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,160 Speaker 1: a lowly faculty member, just got and started for been 100 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: teaching a couple of years. And he said, why are 101 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: you going to do this? And I said, I have 102 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: to signal that I can do more. And so I did, 103 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: and she failed miserably. 104 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 4: Almost a decade later, in the nineteen eighties, she would 105 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 4: try again and this time succeed. 106 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: So I became president at thirty seven and became the 107 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:21,359 Speaker 1: first Latina in the United States to be president of 108 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:23,600 Speaker 1: a college or university. 109 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 4: She'd achieved her goal, and in the valley. 110 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: I never found an opportunity that was better than what 111 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: I could do here. There are very few people that 112 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: want to come to the border and do the kind 113 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: of work that we had to do, which is building 114 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 1: from the ground up. In terms of higher ed. 115 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 4: She began looking at how other university presidents approached the 116 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 4: job and what inspired their work. She found answers when 117 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 4: she met Robert McKay, then president of Miami Dade College. 118 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,719 Speaker 1: And he said, well, my job is to invite into 119 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: higher education the next wave of Native Floridians or the 120 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: next wave of people that come to our shore from 121 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: Haiti or Cuba or wherever they come from, and open 122 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,479 Speaker 1: the doors of higher education for them. And if I 123 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: can do that really well, then they will help sustain 124 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: our democracy. They will then sustain this kind of country 125 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: going forward. This spoke deeper to what I was eventually 126 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: to adopt is my own purpose. 127 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 4: Doctor Garcia knew that if Brownsville was ever going to 128 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 4: keep its best and brightest at home, it would need 129 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:35,559 Speaker 4: to offer them more. 130 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: I felt like I was a pipe piper leading people 131 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: down the wrong road, because if all I was going 132 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: to be able to give them access to was an 133 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: associate degree, the chances of them going on to get 134 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:51,239 Speaker 1: a back laureate was so slim nationwide, much less here. 135 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 4: At the time, Texas Southmost College was lending space on 136 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 4: this campus to Pan American University, located about an hour 137 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 4: west of Brownsville. But doctor Garcia wanted Brownsville to have 138 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 4: its own standalone four year college, and to accomplish that 139 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 4: it would need a partner. In the summer of nineteen ninety, 140 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 4: during the presidency of Bush Senior, a meeting was arranged 141 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 4: with the chancellor of the University of Texas System, one 142 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 4: of the largest systems of higher education in the country 143 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 4: with more than a dozen universities and health institutions. As 144 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 4: doctor Garcia remembers it, the Chancellor leaned back in his 145 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 4: chair and said it would be decades before the UT 146 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 4: system was in a position to invest in the Rio 147 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:33,079 Speaker 4: Grande Valley. In turn, the Texas Southmost College chairperson Mary 148 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:34,319 Speaker 4: Rose Cotter than us. 149 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: Came to the edge of her chair and kind of 150 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: leaned into him, and she said, well, we don't have 151 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: the luxury to wait twenty thirty years, So if you 152 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: don't want to do a deal with us, I get it, 153 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:46,839 Speaker 1: But we're going to go and talk to somebody else. 154 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: And she mentioned Texas A and M of course, which 155 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: is a rival, and we all froze. 156 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 4: The not so disguised threat worked. Launching a standalone university 157 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 4: in Brownsville had finally begun, and about a year or later, 158 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 4: the University of Texas Brownsville, a partnership with Southmost College, 159 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 4: sharing land, buildings and faculty, was a reality. Doctor Garcia 160 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 4: would become president of UTB a few months later. Over 161 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 4: the next fifteen years, the university grew at a feverish pace, 162 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 4: adding thousands of students, recruiting faculty, and building infrastructure, but 163 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 4: the government had other plans. After the September eleventh terrorist 164 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 4: attacks in two thousand and one, the voices calling to 165 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 4: secure the border had become a deafening chorus, and South 166 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 4: Texas was in the national spotlight. It would take five years, 167 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 4: but the debate culminated with passage of the Secure Fence 168 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 4: Act of two thousand and six, news that the Rio 169 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 4: Grande Valley was earmarked for sections of physical barriers began 170 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 4: to circulate around town. Still, for some government construction in 171 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 4: their backyards seemed daunting and hard to believe. 172 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 6: It was scary. 173 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 7: It was very shockage to some people long here. They 174 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 7: were people of poor means, veterans who were on pensions 175 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 7: that they were afraid to speak because they thought that, 176 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 7: you know it, it's the government asking us to do this. 177 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 8: If I say no, am I. 178 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: Going to lose my pension? 179 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,079 Speaker 6: There was a lot of stress. 180 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 4: That's e Luisa Thomas, a lifelong resident of the valley Tamez, 181 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:24,960 Speaker 4: lives on a small plot that was once part of 182 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 4: a Spanish land grant. While the language of the Secure 183 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 4: Fence Act mandated hundreds of miles of fence and specific 184 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 4: areas of the border appropriations, legislation required that local authorities 185 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 4: and stakeholders be consulted first so that a logical argument 186 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,680 Speaker 4: could be made for final placement. About a year after 187 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 4: the law went into effect in late two thousand and seven, 188 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 4: Denise Gilman, a professor of law and director of the 189 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 4: Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas, was approached by 190 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 4: doctor Tommez's daughter, who was concerned that the federal government 191 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 4: was targeting their property too. 192 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,559 Speaker 9: It became clear that the properties that were being targeted 193 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 9: seemed to be those properties that were owned by smaller 194 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 9: landowners Latino landowners, people who were less likely to be 195 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 9: able to speak out against a taking of their property 196 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 9: by the federal government. 197 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 4: Some of the families being targeted had been in possession 198 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 4: of their lands since the seventeenth century, when King Philip 199 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,959 Speaker 4: the Fifth of Spain granted ownership to their ancestors. 200 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 9: It did not seem from the very beginning that the 201 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 9: federal government was targeting properties in a fair way, or 202 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 9: in a way that was really looking at where border 203 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:41,840 Speaker 9: wall would make most sense, where there would be some 204 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 9: operational necessity for the border wall. 205 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 4: The government's plan for fencing on the Texas Mexico border 206 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 4: presented a unique challenge. Unlike states in the American Southwest, 207 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:55,359 Speaker 4: where a person might straddle the international line, in Texas, 208 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 4: the Rio Grande is technically the international boundary. Putting up 209 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:02,720 Speaker 4: a bit in the river was intfeasible, and building in 210 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 4: the river's floodplain required approval from the joint US Mexico 211 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 4: International Boundary and Water Commission a sometimes lengthy process, so 212 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 4: the US government took aim at the levee system in Texas, 213 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,319 Speaker 4: more inland away from the river. Here's doctor Garcia again. 214 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: Rivers don't run straight. Rivers curve right and weave in 215 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: and out. A levee is more likely to be a 216 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: straight line, not a curve line. 217 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,840 Speaker 4: Farms and ranches that were established before the United States 218 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 4: announced itself as a country would be trapped between the 219 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,680 Speaker 4: river and the fence, though still on US soil. Some 220 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,720 Speaker 4: began referring to these areas as the Mexican side. Owners 221 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 4: worried their properties would become no man's lands and difficult 222 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 4: to access. 223 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:50,320 Speaker 9: In effect, the property owner was often losing the other 224 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 9: side of the property on the other side of that fence. 225 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 4: The Secure Fence Act called for up to a third 226 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 4: of the US Mexico border to be secured, though still 227 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 4: up in the air was when and where. In June 228 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 4: of two thousand and seven, doctor Tony Zavaletta, a university 229 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,199 Speaker 4: vice president in charge of external affairs and doctor Garcia's 230 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 4: right hand person, attended a meeting with the US Customs 231 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 4: and Border Protection where he received a map. It depicted 232 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 4: the proposed route of the fence the government was seeking 233 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 4: to build, and for which Congress was allocating one point 234 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 4: two billion dollars. 235 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 10: You know, I just thought these millions of dollars could 236 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 10: served to upgrade colonias, educate kids, provide nutrition, healthcare, and 237 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 10: they were going to build put it. Put that money 238 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 10: into a wall, which I knew instinctively would have no effect. 239 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:46,840 Speaker 4: What Zavaletta, Garcia and others saw was a plan to 240 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 4: erect an eighteen foot high steel barrier through campus that 241 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 4: would cut off access to at least one hundred and 242 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 4: sixty acres of land the university hoped to develop. Much 243 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 4: of the university seven building expansion was going up mere 244 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 4: feet from the levy and in the projected path of 245 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 4: fence construction. 246 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: So you're not talking about building a wall out in 247 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,319 Speaker 1: the middle of nowhere. You're talking about it building it 248 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: right where people work and play and learn and live 249 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:18,439 Speaker 1: every day. And that was what was so disruptive and 250 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: insulting about the wall. 251 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 4: The university, which had grown from forty nine acres to 252 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 4: more than four hundred, according to doctor Garcia, had already 253 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 4: broken ground on a second library, a childcare center that 254 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 4: would double as a Center for Early Childhood Education and 255 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 4: a fine arts hall. Six months later, in December two 256 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 4: thousand and seven, a letter arrived with a specific request. 257 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: I was to sign a request for a right of entry, 258 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: and that in that right of entry, I was giving 259 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: them permission to come to our campus. 260 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 2: Coming up on Latino, USA, Doctor Juliet Garcia takes on 261 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 2: the federal government to try stop border walk construction on 262 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 2: her campus. 263 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 6: Stay with us, Yes, Hey, We're back. 264 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 2: Before the break, doctor Julia Garcia received a letter from 265 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 2: the federal government asking for permission to access her university's property. 266 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 2: The government's ultimate goal would be to build a border 267 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 2: wall on her campus, but doctor Garcia would not go 268 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 2: down without a fight. Reporter Aaron Nelson is going to 269 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 2: pick up the rest of the story from here. 270 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 4: The fence didn't just present an obstacle to the university's 271 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 4: growing footprint. It also threatened the academic culture that doctor 272 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 4: Garcia had spent years cultivating, which included strengthening bonds with Mexico. 273 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: We had prided ourselves in building a university and in 274 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: its core mission talked about blurring the borders edges and 275 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: convening cultures and monetary systems and mores and families, and 276 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: US being the place for those convenience to occur. 277 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 4: The university attracted students from Mexico, many across the International 278 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 4: Bridge that connects Brownsville to Matamoros every day to attend 279 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 4: class at UTB. Others had been born across the border 280 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 4: and then moved to the US ugo Este. Andro Riez 281 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 4: was one of the latter. He started at UTB the 282 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 4: same year Secure Fence Act became law and remembers the 283 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 4: over the top rhetoric over border security at the time. 284 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,199 Speaker 4: It had been ratcheting up for years. 285 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 5: I think things really started changing, like right after nine 286 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:12,680 Speaker 5: to eleven happens. 287 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,360 Speaker 4: Though not a regular occurrence, Rodriguez says, it wasn't unusual 288 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 4: to witness border agents chasing a newly arrived immigrant through 289 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 4: the Union lawn or seeing a Mexican helicopter hovering in 290 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 4: the distance. There were also more border patrol agents around 291 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 4: campus and the university golf course built on the hallowed 292 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,160 Speaker 4: grounds of the old Fort Texas, which came under shell 293 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 4: fire during the Mexican American War. As the sports editor 294 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 4: for the student newspaper, Rodriguez covered the university's golf team. 295 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 5: It started getting kind of weird, like being out in 296 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,119 Speaker 5: about like there, like knowing like, hey, what if I 297 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:45,920 Speaker 5: show up there, Like, what's what's going to happen? 298 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 9: Am I going to be mistaken for anything? 299 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 5: I wouldn't say I had to fear that because in 300 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 5: my head, I'm like, I'm a US citizen, a naturalite 301 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:53,439 Speaker 5: US citizen. 302 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:54,159 Speaker 10: It'll be okay. 303 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 5: But there was still a little bit of an apprehension 304 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 5: knowing that now it's going to become Nomadslam. 305 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,199 Speaker 4: A few days after doctor Garcia and the university received 306 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 4: the letter, DHS held what it advertised as a town 307 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 4: hall at the Brownsville Events Center. It was December twelfth, 308 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 4: two thousand and seven, the feast day of Our Lady 309 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 4: of Guadalupe, an important Catholic holiday to many Brownsville residents. 310 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:21,200 Speaker 1: And we figured they were doing it on that day 311 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,680 Speaker 1: because they knew people would be occupied with this religious celebration. 312 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 4: Doctor Garcia was not about to miss the meeting, but 313 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 4: she says she was not prepared for the intimidation that 314 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 4: awaited them. 315 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,199 Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, everybody that was there was 316 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,479 Speaker 1: armed like they were going to be attacked. And we 317 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: walked in expecting a town hall like meeting, which is 318 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: what had been advertised, like there was no opportunity for 319 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: us to present testimony. 320 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,199 Speaker 4: Doctor Garcia says. She remembers that she and her staff 321 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:49,879 Speaker 4: were told that they would be allowed to dictate or 322 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 4: type out a statement for official record. 323 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: And we were furious. I mean, that was not the 324 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:56,440 Speaker 1: intention of a community meeting. 325 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 4: Doctor Garcia says. She led some of the audience into 326 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 4: a field next to the events center, where she stood 327 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 4: atop the flatbed of a pickup truck and spoke into 328 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 4: a microphone, giving the testimony she had intended all along. 329 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: But it was during that time that we were presenting 330 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: our testimony in this kind of awkward situation out in 331 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: the field in front of the event center, that we 332 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: also noticed that there were low flying aircrafts. 333 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 4: She says. She suspected that the aircraft hovering overhead were 334 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 4: government helicopters. 335 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 1: All we could figure was that they were taking down 336 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: license plates or taking pictures of us, and it was 337 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: very intimidating. 338 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,720 Speaker 4: Doctor Garcia says. The government was sending them a clear message. 339 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: That's when we realized that we were now playing in 340 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: a whole different environment, that this was not going to 341 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,119 Speaker 1: be something we could resolve sitting at a table that 342 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,679 Speaker 1: they had pulled out all the stops to make this happen. 343 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 4: Law professor Denise Gilman says the federal government likely did 344 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,399 Speaker 4: not understand what it had gotten itself into when it 345 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 4: decided to take on UTB. 346 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:01,360 Speaker 9: But I do think that they made assumption about the university, 347 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:06,640 Speaker 9: which frankly are quite offensive and somewhat racist, that this 348 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 9: would not be a challenge to go ahead and take 349 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,359 Speaker 9: property from the university and put up a border wall there. 350 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 4: To stand up to the US government, the university needed 351 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 4: the full support and considerable resources of the University of 352 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:23,119 Speaker 4: Texas system. Doctor Garcia says she presented her case to 353 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 4: the university regents, the people who had the power to 354 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 4: decide whether to provide that backing or not. 355 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I had a couple of 356 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: regents say, well, let's just move the university. Those are 357 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: our roots, it's our home. You know, my children, my 358 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: children's children have grandparents on both sides of the river here, 359 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,639 Speaker 1: so you know, to imagine the simple solution of just 360 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: moving away. I had to get them to understand. 361 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 4: But then doctor Garcia says, the regents attorney. 362 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: Spoke Barry Bergdorf, who was the attorney for the Board 363 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: of Regents, finally said to them in a very carefully 364 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: crafted statement, and he said, the US government's asking you 365 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: to seed this land to Mexico. And the moment he 366 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: said it that way, I knew the board was convinced. 367 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:12,880 Speaker 1: Because you don't tell a textan they're about to see 368 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: land of Mexico. 369 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:18,440 Speaker 4: They voted unanimously to refuse the government requests for access 370 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,720 Speaker 4: to the Brownsville campus, setting up a legal showdown in 371 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 4: federal court. 372 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: I don't think they thought they were going to they 373 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 1: were going to awake the giant, right. I think they 374 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: just saw this as a sleepy little place that would 375 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: be easy pickens. And I cannot imagine that they thought 376 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,119 Speaker 1: they were taking on the University of Texas system. 377 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 4: In February two thousand and eight, Bush's last year in office, 378 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,719 Speaker 4: and mere days after the Regions threw its support behind 379 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,760 Speaker 4: U TB, the federal government sued the university for access 380 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:56,080 Speaker 4: to the university campus. Doctor Garcia assembled a team of experts, 381 00:21:56,359 --> 00:22:00,240 Speaker 4: including Dan Renfro, general counsel for Texas Southmost College, an 382 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:04,359 Speaker 4: environmental engineer, a law enforcement expert, and a former Southmost 383 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 4: College board member who was familiar with the partnership between 384 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 4: the college and university. Garcia managed public relations, keeping local 385 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,439 Speaker 4: and school officials as well as students, faculty, staff, and 386 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:16,640 Speaker 4: donors in the loop. 387 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 3: That he was proud of the university and it was 388 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,119 Speaker 3: something that had flourished and that the community was looking 389 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 3: forward to flourishing. 390 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 4: Further that was Dan Renfro, the attorney for Texas Southmost College. 391 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 4: Negotiations between UTB and DHS carried on for weeks and 392 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 4: hours before their first court date, they reached a tentative agreement. 393 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,400 Speaker 4: The government said they would not pursue a court order 394 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,919 Speaker 4: after all to gain access to the campus, and in return, 395 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 4: the university would help the government address its quote unquote 396 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,399 Speaker 4: security concerns. Whether that included a border wall remained to 397 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:50,159 Speaker 4: be seen. 398 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:53,440 Speaker 3: And technically the case at that point was dismissed, but. 399 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,679 Speaker 4: The truce did not last. The government wanted a wall 400 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 4: and would not budge. Negotiations stalled after According to what 401 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 4: doctor Garcia told Latino USA, the chief of the Border Patrol, 402 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:08,679 Speaker 4: David Aguilatt, asked for a private meeting on the levee 403 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 4: near campus. Doctor Garcia asked bend Rena an assistant to 404 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 4: the University Provost for Government Relations and former top US 405 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 4: Marshall in DC to come with her. Inside a white 406 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,359 Speaker 4: suburban with the UTB emblem on the side, they made 407 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,400 Speaker 4: small talk while they waited for Aguilatt. 408 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: I said, Ben, you and I are chatting in the suburban. 409 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:31,159 Speaker 1: Can they hear us? And he looked over at me 410 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: and he said, if they want to. 411 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,399 Speaker 4: Previous run ins with DHS and Border Patrol agents had 412 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 4: left Garcia and her team looking over their shoulder. 413 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:43,680 Speaker 1: We were very cautious about conversations that we might have 414 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 1: because we just didn't know if we were being recorded 415 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 1: or if it was going to be used against this Somehow. 416 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:54,160 Speaker 4: Suddenly, doctor Garcia says, Chief Aguilatt arrived with a group 417 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 4: of Border Patrol agents. 418 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: So that in itself was interesting that they had asked 419 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: Says only to bring two people, and yet they brought 420 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:03,639 Speaker 1: fifteen or so. 421 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 4: According to doctor Garcia, Aguila launched into a list of demands. 422 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 4: At the top was an eighteen foot steel ballard. 423 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: Fence, and I said, that's not going to happen, and 424 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: he said, it is going to happen. 425 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 4: Doctor Garcia was under the impression that Chief Aguila was 426 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,119 Speaker 4: there to compromise. Instead, she says he insisted that she 427 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:27,240 Speaker 4: accept the same proposals that the university had refused time 428 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 4: and time again. Bendraina also corroborated this account. We reached 429 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:33,720 Speaker 4: out Taguilaud for his account of these events, but he 430 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 4: declined to be interviewed for this story. 431 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 1: So we had arms flailing both of us for a 432 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,119 Speaker 1: moment and voices raised, and he said, well, I just 433 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,600 Speaker 1: can't deal with you any longer if you're not willing 434 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,119 Speaker 1: to negotiate. And I said, we've been negotiating for the 435 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: last six months, and we have been willing to negotiate. 436 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,400 Speaker 4: Doctor Garcia says Aguilar insisted that a fence was necessary. 437 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 4: She says even more frustrating was they could not get 438 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 4: a straight answer from the government explaining why other than 439 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 4: a vague threat of imminent danger. Here's Renfro, the university's attorney. 440 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 10: Again. 441 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 3: From our view, they didn't do what that March order 442 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 3: required them to do, which was to sit down and 443 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 3: confer with us and collaborate and consider all alternatives. From 444 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,919 Speaker 3: our view, they thought, okay, that's fine, but we have 445 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 3: a congressional mandate to build defense, and we're going to 446 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 3: build defense, and we're going to build it right here. 447 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,680 Speaker 4: Later that year, on June thirtieth, two thousand and eight, 448 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,920 Speaker 4: they were back in court. Renfro argued that the government 449 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,440 Speaker 4: ended dialogue with them when UTB hired consultants and prepared 450 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 4: to suggest alternatives to the fence. We tried to obtain 451 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 4: the federal government's version of these events, but we did 452 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 4: not receive a response. UTB and DHS were under a 453 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 4: court order to find a solution that accommodated both the 454 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 4: government's interest in securing the border and the university's educational mission, 455 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,400 Speaker 4: but according to Renfro, DHS had made up its mind 456 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,919 Speaker 4: that a physical barrier was the only the outcome. The 457 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,119 Speaker 4: judge ordered both parties to continue negotiating. 458 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 3: Judge Haynan had put this July thirty first deadline on 459 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 3: us to get something worked out, so it got pretty intense. 460 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 4: Judge Andrew Haynan would come to be known several years 461 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 4: later for blocking the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans 462 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 4: and Lawful Permanent Residents, also known as DAPPA, and he 463 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 4: was in the news again recently when he ruled the 464 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:27,360 Speaker 4: dock A program illegal. But before all that, Haynan presided 465 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 4: over hundreds of border wall lawsuits pitting landowners against the government. 466 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 4: In most cases, the government prevailed, but the university was 467 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 4: a special case. For one thing, it had the resources 468 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:40,639 Speaker 4: to put up a fight, and it had the support 469 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 4: of Brownsville residents. Doctor Garcia even found support within the 470 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 4: Border Patrol. 471 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,840 Speaker 1: So I was going up to get on a plane 472 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: one morning, early morning, two of the Border patrol guys 473 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: followed me, and so they came up to me and 474 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:57,880 Speaker 1: quietly and almost under their bread, they said, ma'am, we're 475 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: graduates of UT Brownsville. We're very proud of your stance. 476 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:06,119 Speaker 1: Thank you very much. And they walked off, And I thought, 477 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: thank you, dear lord, because that spoke to what we 478 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: were trying to achieve. And these are good guys. They 479 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: got a government job. They wanted to provide a safe, 480 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 1: secure environment for their families and people, and they saw 481 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,200 Speaker 1: that this was not what they had signed up for. 482 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,720 Speaker 4: Well, many in the community looked for doctor Garcia to 483 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:32,440 Speaker 4: take on a larger role in opposing wall. She was 484 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,560 Speaker 4: under pressure from the UT system to resolve the university's 485 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 4: issue as quickly as possible. 486 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 3: Is that we knew that UT system looked at this 487 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:45,040 Speaker 3: as a specific issue for this campus and was not 488 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 3: interested in a broader political statement. But I do think 489 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,679 Speaker 3: it's also true that the community thought that this was 490 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,920 Speaker 3: kind of the landmark case, if you want to call 491 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 3: it that, for the construction in Brownsell. 492 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 4: Well, the universe city was slowly making progress. Most landowners 493 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 4: weren't nearly so fortunate. When it came to negotiating with 494 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,160 Speaker 4: the government. Many, including her husband, were on their own. 495 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 4: He was a partial owner and a property that was 496 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 4: in the path of the government's planned defence. He and 497 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:16,120 Speaker 4: his partners fought too, but. 498 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,679 Speaker 1: They were not successful, and they finally settled, but it 499 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:20,919 Speaker 1: ruined access forever. 500 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,840 Speaker 4: Doctor Tommez, who we heard from earlier, and her neighbors 501 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 4: also lost the wall cut across her three acre property 502 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 4: in a small town west of Brownsville. 503 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,200 Speaker 6: We were nothing and we were treated as such. Why me, 504 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 6: I mean, I only had three acres. 505 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:40,320 Speaker 8: I was also getting very angry at the approach that 506 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 8: the government was taken on us citizens, veterans, people that 507 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 8: had paid taxes all these years to the government. 508 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 6: I wanted to. 509 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 4: Know what Doctor Zavaletta, the former university vice president we 510 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 4: heard from earlier, saw land he inherited also walled off, and. 511 00:28:58,120 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 10: We were told that we would be paid for that, 512 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 10: and we were not, and finally I had to go 513 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 10: to court. 514 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,920 Speaker 4: Doctor Zabaleta says the government paid his mother just a 515 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 4: small amount of money for the land it took. Gilman 516 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 4: says the law is not good on government action in 517 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 4: border areas, where national security justifications can be used to 518 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 4: silence most claims and complaints. She says environmental impact, discrimination, 519 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 4: and the inability to challenge the taking of land were 520 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 4: just a few of the issues that the wall construction raised. 521 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 9: We were also very concerned about impacts on long standing 522 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 9: indigenous communities that have special protections under international human rights law. 523 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 4: But it was the lack of transparency that frustrated all 524 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 4: efforts to present a formidable challenge to the government. 525 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 9: I mean, there were many, many statements made by high 526 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 9: level officials that there was recognition that the border wall 527 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 9: was not going to really have any significant operational impact, 528 00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 9: but that they intended to go forward wherever it was 529 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 9: cheapest and easiest to build the border wall without regard 530 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 9: to the impact on the community. 531 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 4: In the spring of two thousand and eight, Gilman filed 532 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 4: for information from the government, but she did not receive 533 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,760 Speaker 4: a response for months. When some records arrived Barack Obama 534 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 4: was entering the White House. The documents, however, had very 535 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 4: little to do with the information they had requested on 536 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 4: the decision making process about where border wall construction was 537 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 4: going to take place or which properties were being targeted. 538 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 9: And so we had to sue. 539 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 4: When Gilman finally received all of the documents she had 540 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,920 Speaker 4: requested during Obama's second term, she says that she found 541 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 4: evidence of what they had been arguing all along. 542 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 9: They were mostly interested in putting up border wall where 543 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 9: there were smaller Latino landowners who had less ability, power 544 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:54,239 Speaker 9: influence to stop or resist border walk construction, and they 545 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,160 Speaker 9: were less interested in putting up the border wall in 546 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 9: those areas where there were large white landowners ranchers who 547 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,600 Speaker 9: were likely to resist. And there were even very specific 548 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:11,800 Speaker 9: confirmations that ranch owners who had political connections were less 549 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:14,320 Speaker 9: likely to be impacted by border walk construction. 550 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 4: Renfro says what sets UTB's case apart from other border 551 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:22,760 Speaker 4: fence litigation is that public education, like national security, is 552 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 4: a core value of society. 553 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:28,360 Speaker 3: The federal government was taking the position that homeland security 554 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 3: was a higher value than public education. And the federal 555 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 3: government ultimately is not bound by state laws. 556 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 4: Renfro believed the government would not prevail on a value 557 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:45,040 Speaker 4: proposition that sacrificed higher education on the altar of homeland security. 558 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 3: The case that we tried to make in court was 559 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 3: that how do we promote both those values? Rather than 560 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 3: saying homeland security wins, higher education loses. 561 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:59,320 Speaker 4: While DHS officials were supposed to negotiate with doctor Garcia 562 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 4: and the universe, she says they had refused to give 563 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,480 Speaker 4: an inch. The letter of the law required that the 564 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 4: government work with U. T. Brownsville to search for an 565 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 4: amicable solution, and Judge Haynan compelled the government to negotiate 566 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 4: in good faith or risk losing the case. 567 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: Toward the end of one of the hearings that we 568 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 1: had before him, he said, look, I own a pair 569 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: of boots. I know where the baseball park is. If 570 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:24,360 Speaker 1: you all can't work something, I'm going to put my 571 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:26,400 Speaker 1: boots on. I'm going to walk that levee and I'll 572 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: tell you where you're going to do it. Don't make 573 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 1: me do that. And then he sent us all back home, 574 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 1: and next time you come, come with a plan. 575 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 4: After that, doctor Garcia says, negotiations really started to pick 576 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 4: up momentum, and a solution suddenly presented itself. Doctor Garcia 577 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,160 Speaker 4: was driving with members of her team along the levee 578 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 4: when someone in the car said. 579 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 5: We already have a fence. 580 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,240 Speaker 1: He said, what are you talking about? 581 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,600 Speaker 5: He said, Look, we have a fence already. It's our 582 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 5: property line fence, and there was an old fence that 583 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 5: had been here before we even own owned this property. 584 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,719 Speaker 4: Doctor Garcia says they realized they wouldn't have to give 585 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 4: up land. Instead, they could build along their existing fence line. 586 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,320 Speaker 4: A few days later, they met with DHS officials in 587 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 4: DC to offer this suggestion. This time, the government agreed 588 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,280 Speaker 4: to a ten foot high green gage wire fence with 589 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 4: white ramproof columns, but it also demanded that UTB foot 590 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 4: the bill for the roughly one million dollar fence. Doctor 591 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:27,960 Speaker 4: Garcia objected, but in the end, the ut system agreed 592 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,360 Speaker 4: to cover the cost. The final product looks like something 593 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 4: you might see at the entrance to a country club. 594 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,160 Speaker 5: We designed the entrance here as a way to invite 595 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,800 Speaker 5: you in, not to keep you or intimidate you from 596 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:45,680 Speaker 5: coming in, and it runs all the way to the 597 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:46,600 Speaker 5: perimeter of our. 598 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,959 Speaker 4: Campus recalled that the university was expanding in late two 599 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,479 Speaker 4: thousand and eight. It bought just under an acre, and 600 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 4: it wished to extend that same green wire fence for 601 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 4: one thousand feet behind the new property. But DHS was 602 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,840 Speaker 4: done compromising. It would build an eighteen foot high fence 603 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 4: of steel posts instead. 604 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 5: And that was just payback for the trouble we had 605 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:11,160 Speaker 5: given them. They demeaned us in conversation. They spoke slowly 606 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:16,200 Speaker 5: in case I didn't understand English well enough. They spoke 607 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:20,080 Speaker 5: to me like a girl a woman in a man's world. 608 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:22,719 Speaker 5: And I've faced that that whole life, but I had 609 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 5: never faced it. 610 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,960 Speaker 1: As president of the university. 611 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 4: Still, it wasn't always clear to doctor Garcia that the 612 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 4: university had come out ahead. 613 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 1: Someone told me one day, when I was so disgusted 614 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,759 Speaker 1: about the fact that I was being sued by my 615 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:40,440 Speaker 1: own government, they said, don't think of it that way. 616 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,920 Speaker 1: You're still working for what you believe to be the 617 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,239 Speaker 1: principles of the United States. The guys that are in 618 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,960 Speaker 1: charge of your government right now is who are suing you. 619 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 1: They'll be gone and your government will still survive, and 620 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:58,600 Speaker 1: the principles that you're fighting for are still are the 621 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:00,840 Speaker 1: ones that are there not these particular guys. 622 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,000 Speaker 4: The fence and in some places wall that was eventually 623 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 4: built was ultimately a compromise, but from a legal standpoint, 624 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 4: Renfro remembers it as a win for the university. 625 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,400 Speaker 3: Anytime you make them play by the book, that is 626 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:16,920 Speaker 3: a good thing. Anytime you say here's what the law says, 627 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:20,680 Speaker 3: you actually need to do that, even if the result 628 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:22,919 Speaker 3: is the same in the long run, that's a good thing. 629 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 3: And I think the university did that here. 630 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 4: For Rodriguez, the Mexican born former student who now teaches 631 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,239 Speaker 4: English to high school kids in Houston, the wall is 632 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,040 Speaker 4: a stark reminder of his journey as an immigrant and 633 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,560 Speaker 4: the lingering fear that his citizenship status could be stripped away. 634 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,840 Speaker 1: These two nations belong together, have us shared history, and 635 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:44,160 Speaker 1: we don't talk enough about it. 636 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,920 Speaker 4: After that last hearing in July of two thousand and eight, 637 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 4: doctor Garcia and her team got together at a research 638 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:55,200 Speaker 4: center in the neighboring Mexican state of Tamolipas. Renfro says 639 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:58,279 Speaker 4: they spent time talking about what their case meant for 640 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:01,399 Speaker 4: the valley and remembering those who did not receive such 641 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:02,560 Speaker 4: a favorable outcome. 642 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:08,120 Speaker 3: I do recall being sad that not everybody gets this 643 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,799 Speaker 3: level of justice, if you want to call it that, 644 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:12,319 Speaker 3: that we did. 645 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 4: Over the next several years, private contractors went on to 646 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:18,280 Speaker 4: build more than seventy miles of border fence and levy 647 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 4: wall across the Rio Grande Valley UTB and doctor Garcia 648 00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 4: had been more fortunate. She led a fight with some 649 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 4: powerful backing and also the support of the two men 650 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:30,720 Speaker 4: that had taught her to stand up her brothers. 651 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:33,680 Speaker 1: You know that song, don't back down. That's what it is. 652 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:37,880 Speaker 1: Don't back down. There's a song. Look for it. You'll 653 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 1: like it. And my brothers would send it to me 654 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:41,680 Speaker 1: every once in a while, knowing that I was in 655 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,680 Speaker 1: federal court saying, don't back down, sister, you're doing the 656 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:46,239 Speaker 1: right thing. 657 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 4: In twenty thirteen, UT Brownsville merged with UT pan American 658 00:36:56,760 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 4: to form a regional university called the University of Texas 659 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,520 Speaker 4: Rio Grande Vali. Doctor Garcia did not toss her hat 660 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,319 Speaker 4: in the ring for the job a president. Instead, she 661 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,560 Speaker 4: became the director of the UT Institute of the Americas 662 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:13,720 Speaker 4: and an advisor to the UT system chancellor. These days, 663 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,280 Speaker 4: she teaches composition at the Brownsville Campus. 664 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:30,719 Speaker 2: This episode was reported by Aaron Nelson and produced by 665 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:35,080 Speaker 2: Rinaldo Leanos Junior and edited by Andre Robescrusado. It was 666 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:38,440 Speaker 2: mixed by elishiba Ittu. Fact checking for this episode by 667 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:43,239 Speaker 2: Amy Tardiff. The Latino USA team includes Marta Martinez, Mike's Argent, 668 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:49,240 Speaker 2: Julia Ta Martinelli, Victoria Estrada, Patricia Ulbaran, Gini montalbo Alejandra Salassard, 669 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,640 Speaker 2: and Julia Rocha, with help from Raoul Verees. Our editorial 670 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:56,000 Speaker 2: director is Julio Ricardo Barella. Our supervising Senior engineer is 671 00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:59,760 Speaker 2: Stephaniel Bo. Our Assistant Senior Engineer is Julia Caruso. Additional 672 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:03,040 Speaker 2: engineering by Leah shaw Damaran with help from Gabriel Abias 673 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:04,240 Speaker 2: and jj Caerubin. 674 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:06,200 Speaker 6: Our digital editor is Luis Luna. 675 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,920 Speaker 2: Our New York Women's Foundation Ignite fellow is Mari Esquina. 676 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 2: Our theme music was composed by Sania Ruinos. If you 677 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:15,839 Speaker 2: like the music you heard on this episode, stop by 678 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,720 Speaker 2: Latinousa dot org and check out our weekly Spotify playlist. 679 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 2: I'm your host and executive producer Maria Jojosa join us 680 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:25,719 Speaker 2: again on our next episode and in the meantime, I'll 681 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,000 Speaker 2: see you on all of our social media by Los 682 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,400 Speaker 2: veo est Laproxima JAU. 683 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:37,000 Speaker 11: Latino USA is made possible in part by the John D. 684 00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:41,680 Speaker 11: And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, working with 685 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,960 Speaker 11: visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide, and 686 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:53,080 Speaker 11: the Heisin Simons Foundation unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities. More 687 00:38:53,239 --> 00:39:04,680 Speaker 11: at hsfoundation dot ORGA. 688 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:03,520 Speaker 2: Okay, we have a Cicada situation. It looks like they 689 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:06,040 Speaker 2: heard us and they say we're out of here. Thank 690 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:11,680 Speaker 2: you Cicadas for cooperating. In three two one. 691 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:12,280 Speaker 6: I'm Marie Neo Hoossan. 692 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,520 Speaker 2: Next time on Latino USA, we visit a family in 693 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:20,040 Speaker 2: South Texas dreading something that President Joe Biden said they 694 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:25,040 Speaker 2: should no longer fear border wall construction. That's next time 695 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:28,600 Speaker 2: on Latino USA.