1,000 signatures reached
To: Verizon Wireless Chief Communications Officer James J. Gerace
Tell Verizon Wireless: Stop fueling CBP’s hate and abuse
Last year Verizon Wireless was the lead sponsor of the 2020 Border Security Expo in San Antonio. These events feature and sell products designed to surveil and harm individuals at a moment when Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have become increasingly militarized. We’ve seen appalling disregard for immigrants’ humanity at the southern U.S. border and most recently, witnessed incredible violations of civil liberties as agents, including from CBP, beat and arrested protestors in Portland.
Verizon Wireless must not fuel this sort of militarism, hate, and abuse. We demand that the 2020 Expo be Verizon’s last.
Verizon Wireless must not fuel this sort of militarism, hate, and abuse. We demand that the 2020 Expo be Verizon’s last.
Why is this important?
Every year at the “Border Security” Expo in San Antonio, HUNDREDS of companies feature the “hottest gear” — THOUSANDS of military-grade weapons and surveillance products. And it’s all for sale.
Lucky for these vendors, the Trump administration is willing to pay with dollars AND our civil liberties. Trump’s secret police in Portland included Department of Homeland Security agents, who beat and arrested Black Lives Matter protestors with impunity and without cause. This has got to be the LAST straw.
Expos like these are one place militarization thrives and we need to shut them down— the arms dealers, the surveillance companies, and the dehumanizing us vs. them rhetoric. All of it.
Planning is ALREADY underway for the 2021 Expo. But just like any big industry conference, the Expo is built on corporate sponsorships. So we’ve got to get LOUD and to tell last year’s lead sponsor — Verizon Wireless — if they support this event again, they’re only doubling down on hate and militarism.
Tell Verizon Wireless: Stop fueling CBP’s hate and abuse! Make 2020 the last year you sponsor this Expo.
Lucky for these vendors, the Trump administration is willing to pay with dollars AND our civil liberties. Trump’s secret police in Portland included Department of Homeland Security agents, who beat and arrested Black Lives Matter protestors with impunity and without cause. This has got to be the LAST straw.
Expos like these are one place militarization thrives and we need to shut them down— the arms dealers, the surveillance companies, and the dehumanizing us vs. them rhetoric. All of it.
Planning is ALREADY underway for the 2021 Expo. But just like any big industry conference, the Expo is built on corporate sponsorships. So we’ve got to get LOUD and to tell last year’s lead sponsor — Verizon Wireless — if they support this event again, they’re only doubling down on hate and militarism.
Tell Verizon Wireless: Stop fueling CBP’s hate and abuse! Make 2020 the last year you sponsor this Expo.