McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Activists lit up a U.S. Customs and Border Protection port of entry with words of support for migrants and asylum-seekers during the weekend in South Texas.
Video shot by supporters of the grassroots organization Witness at the Border shows the words “LET THEM CROSS” and “LOVE HAS NO BORDERS” projected for several minutes onto the side of the CBP inspection area at the Gateway International Bridge on Saturday in Brownsville.
At a nearby section of the border wall, the group also projected the phrases: “RESTORE ASYLUM NOW”; “WITNESS AT THE BORDER”; “WHERE IS YOUR HUMANITY”; “SEEKING ASYLUM IS LEGAL”; “WE ARE WATCHING”; “DON’T LOOK AWAY”; and “LET THEM CROSS.”
The light show was part of a weekend of vigils, protest marches and sit-ins that the group held starting before dawn Friday at Brownsville South Padre International Airport and running through today from their base at Brownsville’s Xeriscape Park, which is across the street from the port of entry.
When asked what CBP’s reaction was to the light show, group leader Joshua Rubin told Border Report: “What could they do? Nothing. They didn’t know what we were doing.”
Rubin’s group on Friday protested at the airport to try to stop four charter buses full of migrants set for deportation.
On Friday afternoon, state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., a Democrat who represents Brownsville, was among several speakers who addressed the protesters at Xeriscape Park. On Saturday, they marched from the park to another park where the border wall cuts through. On Sunday, they held a memorial service for children migrants killed while seeking asylum.
Today, Rubin’s group plans to have several politicians speak at Xeriscape Park, including several candidates who are challenging Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn for his seat, as well as other statewide and local offices.
Rubin has been leading a vigil at the park since Jan. 12 and has vowed not to leave until every migrant is allowed to cross the port of entry. “What we have to do is do what’s right. If we can get them to change, so much better. At least get people aware of what’s going on here. We can’t live with it the way it is, that’s for sure. We can’t sit and watch this.”
