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LAREDO, Texas (Border Report) — The city of Laredo, located in South Texas, has decided to remove a five-year-old street mural opposing the border wall after Governor Greg Abbott threatened to cut off $1.6 billion in transportation funding to the city.
On Monday, the Laredo City Council voted 8 to 1 to repave the road in front of the federal courthouse, where on August 15, 2020, volunteers had painted the words “DEFUND THE WALL — FUND OUR FUTURE” in bold yellow letters.
Councilwoman Melissa Cigarroa was the only member to oppose the decision during the special meeting.
Back in 2020, she played a key role in the No Border Wall Coalition, which organized and financed the creation of the mural.
Speaking to Border Report on Tuesday, Cigarroa stated that all necessary permits were obtained, the street was properly closed for the mural’s creation, and the group adhered to all regulations at that time.
She says the state “used extortion” and threatened to withhold $1.6 billion in state road funds to Laredo if it isn’t removed. But she says the mural did what it was intended to do by drawing national attention to Laredo, which was one of the only South Texas towns not to have a border wall constructed on its banks of the Rio Grande.
“In the end, the fact that it has had a five-year life has been a blessing. I think the issue is still unfortunately present today but it served its purpose. And it is still an example of the amazing community effort to come together and fight against that wall. And our coalition is still strong and still out there organizing around protecting our water, and being more aware of conservation efforts along the river bank to protect the river as our only source of drinking water,” Cigarroa told Border Report.
“Paving over the mural, the symbolism isn’t wrapped up in trying to silence us because that isn’t going to happen, right? We’ve already proven that — the coalition. But it’s more a symbolism of what this administration and this governor are doing to the freedom of expression in communities. And if they want to pretend it’s road safety but that’s an invented justification. Really it is about silencing communities,” Cigarroa said.
The city council will now spend $50,000 in city road funds to repave the street, which Cigarroa calls “an unfunded mandate that we now have to swallow as a city.”
“And it’s all due to the threats by the governor,” she said. “This over-bearing reinvention of the rules … This is a city street. It’s not a TxDOT street.”
The mural was painted in the middle of a block in downtown Laredo in front of the federal courthouse and George P. Kazan Federal Building.
It’s the same courthouse where the coalition also placed hundreds of pairs of shoes on the front steps to signify migrants who have crossed from Mexico.
After the Laredo city council approved the street mural in early August 2020, a faction of the coalition, called the Mothers And Grandma’s Against the Wall (MAGAW) sent home-baked cookies and cakes to every council member as a gesture of thanks.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.