Fellow Republicans, Friends, Americans

I did not vote for Trump. It was not because I was a great fan of Hillary, it was because a cornerstone of his campaign is racist. You may say I am sensitive to this because I am father to a 5 year old adopted Hispanic daughter. Regardless, Trump has said repeatedly he will build a wall on our southern border. The arguments continue that what he is really talking about is stopping “illegal” immigration and therefore not racist just a solution to a “problem” in this country. Never once have we heard talk of a wall between the U.S. and Canada to our north. So let’s look at the facts. According to Pew Research Center the number of illegal immigrants from Mexico have been declining since 2009 while the number of unauthorized immigrants from other nations has grown by 325,000 since 2009. Currently 66% of illegal immigrants have lived in the United States for over 10 years. According to the Department of Homeland security the number of illegal immigrants peaked in 2007 at around 12 million and has been slowly declining since. The office of Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that 41% of illegal immigrants enter the U.S. legally. The Berlin wall was a mere 96 miles long compared to the 1,954 miles between the U.S. and Mexico yet few symbols better capture the divide in the world during the cold war than the Berlin wall. Walls are more than just a barrier they are symbolic. A wall between the U.S. and Mexico does not symbolize a fight against illegal immigration it says we don’t want Hispanics in our country and that is racist. It sends a message that we don’t want anyone who is different (race, creed, color) in this country. You cannot pretend it doesn’t when the facts show us it would do little or nothing to curb illegal immigration. Unless you are one of just over 2 million Native Americans remember that you are either an immigrant or descended from an immigrant.

Since the elections there have been protests around the country that many republicans mock as being "poor losers". If you believe in the constitution, the 1st amendment gives them this right and we must respect and support that right. The real truth is they are afraid, truly afraid because we now have a president who used fear and blame as a tool to get elected. If you are Muslim, Hispanic, or hold any other minority ideology you feel threatened right now because we allowed someone to be elected using fear. Following a terrorist attack this July when two ISIS terrorist attacked a Catholic church in Normandy, Pope Francis said it best: “I know it dangerous to say this but terrorism grows when there is no other option and when money is made and it, instead of the person, is put at the center of the world economy.” If we make it “us” versus “them”, republican versus democrat, if we put money (jobs, economy) ahead of people the world will not be a better place. The protests started peaceful but fear may soon turn to anger, rage and violence. We can stop it. We can help bring the country together to support our new president, however that will never happen when a priority of the new administration is to build a wall real or symbolic. We need to have a real conversation in this country about immigration but it cannot start when one side has a racist and xenophobic plan. There are many good reasons you may have voted for President-elect Trump but I hope building a wall was not one of them. If it was then realize that you support a racist agenda that could tear this country apart. I never in my entire life want to hear someone tell my daughter “go back to your side of the wall.” We must act, on June 12, 1987 US President Ronald Reagan called on Mikhail Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall!” I ask President-elect Trump: Tear down this wall!

It is not enough to sit idle, contact your congressmen and senators tell them this is not acceptable. Publicly decry this horrible plan. We need to show those that are afraid and those that feel threatened that we are all truly Americans that we hear them and that racism and discrimination is in our past not our future. I don’t want to keep hearing I am not a racist because…. Actions speak louder than words do something to prove you mean what you say. If we do not act then we are doomed to repeat crimes of the past.

Sign this petition to show your support of eliminating the concept of building a wall completely so we can bring this country together and begin the work for a better future.

Respectfully,

Mark Lee