BROWNSVILLE (Texas) HERALD

October 26, 2006

Border walker’s journey comes to an end

Despite protest, Bush expected to sign bill to build border fence

By SARA INÉS CALDERÓN
The Brownsville Herald

Tired, blistered but still enthusiastic, Jay Johnson-Castro and his contingent of bor-der walkers ended their 211-mile trek from Laredo to Brownsville on Wednesday.

His destination was Dean Porter Park.

A group of about 45 people gathered to listen to Johnson-Castro, Brownsville Mayor Eddie Treviño Jr. and others speak about the walk protesting the future construction of a border fence.

President Bush is expected to sign the Secure Fence Act, which was passed by Congress last month, in a ceremony today at the White House, according to Nortimex news service.

The bill, House Resolution 6061, calls for the construction of at least double-layered reinforced fencing “extending 15 miles northwest of the Laredo, Texas, port of entry to the Brownsville, Texas, port of en-try.” The remaining portions of the 700-mile barrier would stretch across other areas of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Following Congress’ action on the U.S.-Mexico barrier, Johnson-Castro, a Del Rio resident, organized the Texas Border Wall-K in opposition to the plan.

“No wall,” were the first two words Johnson-Castro uttered when he first took the podium at the rally. He spoke about the people he had met along the way and thanked all those who had made his journey possible, including native Brownsville resident John Neck.

“It’s just an ugly bad idea,” said Neck, a Vietnam-era Marine veteran, and said Johnson-Castro was a veteran of the U.S. Navy. Neck followed Johnson-Castro as he walked from Laredo in his pickup and made sure water and Gatorade were available for the weary walker. The group stayed in hotels, churches and homes during the night and walked about 15 miles per day, Neck said.

“Now, I can look at myself in the mirror” if the fence is built, Neck said. “The only thing worse than putting up a wall is putting up a wall silently.”

Brownsville’s mayor joined the border walker earlier in the day and walked with him for about 45 min-utes until the end of his trip.

“No other elected official from Laredo to Brownsville has been a part of this walk,” Johnson-Castro said about Treviño.

Johnson-Castro walked along U.S. 281 into Brownsville on Wednesday, stopping at a taqueria and wav-ing to passers-by who honked as they spotted him.

He wore what he said was a utilitarian “costume,” jeans, a white T-shirt, a straw hat and a red bandana around his neck. He held a water bottle in one hand and a silver walking stick in the other.

“Ya mero, ya mero,” said one man with a cowboy hat in front of Sanchez Tire Shop No. 3 on Military Highway. “Nos vemos a las cinco,” he said. “Almost. Almost. ... We’ll see each other at 5 p.m.”

People waved from their cars, apartments and car washes as the contingent walked by. Five police cars, two police motorcycles, two of the contingent’s cars and one dozen people made up the final leg of the walk.

“These are the guys that the (CNN host) Lou Dobbs don’t ever want to listen to,” Johnson-Castro said as he passed by the tire shop.

“No estoy a favor,” said 84 year-old Angelita Valdez of the border fence as she waved a United Farm Worker flag. “I’m not in favor.”

Valdez and dozens of others arrived at Dean Porter Park in Brownsville later in afternoon, 15 days af-ter Johnson-Castro left from Laredo on Oct. 10.

“This is not what we want on the border,” said Treviño, adding that he had supported Johnson-Castro’s endeavor since before it began. He later presented the border walker with a proclamation from the City Commission thanking him for his civic involvement and courage.

Representatives from the Sierra Club, the Navajo Nation and Democratic senatorial candidate Barbara Radnofsky spoke at the rally. Each praised Johnson-Castro’s effort for reasons of environmental, sover-eign or border security concerns.

After the rally, Johnson-Castro said he and his contingent would walk to the bridge and cross over into Mexico to show that they “don’t think Mexicans are terrorists” and border residents are not afraid of Mexicans.

“In fact, we get along,” he said.

“Just let us get along” was his message to Washington, D.C., politicians.

When asked what’s next for him and his political protesting, Johnson-Castro replies that he takes life one day at a time. He had previously hoped to walk back to Nuevo Laredo on the Mexican side of the border from Matamoros, but said he would not be able to that because of legal issues.

The border fence is the Berlin Wall, apartheid and anti-democratic, he said, and he urged the president and other politicians not to go through with its construction.

Dissention is patriotic, he said, quoting Thomas Jefferson. He said he felt glad that he had the freedom to make his particular statement.

“It’s not a me thing,” Johnson-Castro said to the gathered group of border residents and activists. “It’s a we thing.”