It’s been a tough week. As the midterm election grows nearer, and Donald Trump’s poll numbers continue to plummet, the velocity of border wall construction is picking up. In the last six weeks in southern Arizona, Border Patrol sent its SWAT-style BORTAC agents onto Tohono O’odham tribal land to escort private contractors from Fisher Sand & Gravel to prepare for border wall construction despite tribal opposition, and in Lochiel a small Border Patrol army of agents shot pepper balls and tear gas at protesters trying to protect a century-old grove of cottonwoods that are directly in the path of construction for a double wall. Contractors and agents forced protestors out of the trees, then demolished them. A protestor, at this writing, is still hanging on in the last remaining tree in the path of the bulldozers. We reported on the actions in Lochiel this week and will have a follow up coming soon. Federal agencies have also closed public lands at the border to facilitate the wall’s construction and for the first time, the nonprofit humanitarian organization, Humane Borders, was denied permits to place life saving water stations in the desert, despite an increase in migrant deaths.

In Texas, the installation of buoy barriers is in full swing in Laredo and Starr County. The administration plans to install more than 500 miles of these massive buoys on the Rio Grande, in direct violation of binational treaties with Mexico, and independent scientific reports that the buoys could cause extensive damage to the environment and border communities along the river. In July, we wrote about how during a modest flooding event in Eagle Pass and Laredo sections of these buoys were swept downstream. These chains of buoys wrapped around the pillars of the international bridges, including Laredo’s World Trade bridge, which forced officials to shut down the bridge. Hundreds of millions in trade were lost during the bridge closures. Residents from Laredo’s El Azteca neighborhood testified this week before city council that planned border wall and buoy barriers will take away their only park and profoundly impact their homes and quality of life.

Speaking of Donald Trump and elections, this week at a political rally in Nebraska he inexplicably encouraged Iran to bomb San Diego and Los Angeles. “They can take out a city,” Trump said to the crowd. “Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. … “It’ll be over very soon,” he rambled about his war with Iran.

San Diego’s Mayor, Todd Gloria, responded that his city was “not collateral damage” in the president’s war. “We are not expendable. And we are never a “small price to pay,” he wrote on X “Keep our city out of your reckless war talk.”

But finally, some good news: in Texas, federal judge Katherine Cardone has stopped border wall construction through the iconic Big Bend region for now. Big Bend journalist Sam Karas has a very moving piece out this week in Texas Monthly about the court case and what’s at stake moving forward. I very much recommend you read it.

And one last note: if you haven’t bought tickets to our 5^th anniversary celebration in Tucson on October 22, I encourage you to buy them now. We have about 10 tickets left, and we’d love to see you! There will be delicious food from La Indita, dancing and poetry. We hope to see you there!