The city council of the U.S.-Mexico border town of Laredo, Texas, has voted unanimously to paint “Defund The Wall” on the street in front of the federal courthouse despite advice from its acting city attorney that the action could be impermissible as political advertising.
The vote Monday night in the overwhelmingly Hispanic and Democratic municipality of about 260,000 disregarded warnings from Acting City Attorney/Assistant City Manager Kristina Hale that if the mural is considered political advertising it would violate state elections and/or city ethics codes, the Laredo Morning Times reported.
Councilman Roberto Balli, who introduced the measure in coordination with the “No Border Wall Coalition,” claimed the mural is not political advertising since a border wall is not an issue on the November ballot.
The federal Department of Homeland Security is constructing 69 miles of a border wall through Webb and Zapata counties. Laredo is the county seat of Webb County.
The mural is similar to the “Black Lives Matter” street paintings that city officials have approved in other cities, such as near the White House in Washington, D.C., and on Fifth Avenue in New York City in front of Trump Tower.
“We believe that public art can ignite important conversations about what we value in our society and what we want our future to be,” coalition member Karen Gaytan said in a news release. “We believe that if we say ‘DEFUND THE WALL,’ the rest of the country will pay attention to what’s going on here and listen to what we, the residents of Laredo, want for our future.”
Customs and Border Patrol Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan has said the border wall, of which the CBP says 356 miles have been completed, is necessary to help his agents slow or stop those who attempt to illegally enter the United States, giving border agents time to respond and make an arrest.
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