In response to the ongoing debate regarding the federal budget, immigration and the border wall, Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM) and CVNM Education Fund (CVNM Education Fund) released the following statement from CVNMEF’s Juntos: Our Air, Our Water Program Coordinator Estefany González-Mendoza:
“CVNM stands in support of New Mexico’s undocumented immigrant communities and families, and the many volunteers and supporters of our organization that are themselves DREAMers and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients who could soon lose their protections. I myself was a DACA recipient before receiving resident status, and DACA provided my family and I with a sense of stability that took a lot of stress and fear away.”
“The immigrant rights and environmental justice movements are interconnected: immigrants and communities of color often shoulder the highest burdens of environmental pollution – from the impacts of climate change to polluted air and water. We are committed to addressing the impacts of environmental pollution and racism experienced by New Mexico’s families.”
“A border wall will cause destruction to one of the most unique habitats and important wildlife corridors in the American Southwest and will require billions of dollars that our country should invest elsewhere.”
The CVNM family of organizations includes Conservation Voters New Mexico and Conservation Voters New Mexico Education Fund and its dedicated organizing programs that work with communities directly impacted by pollution, many of which are communities of color and immigrant families.
