La Mujer Obrera

03/13/2024

“Mi mayor sueño es que quiten las ‘trocas’ (tractocamiones y tráileres) del puente ‘Libre’ para que ya no nos estemos enfermando”, dijo el niño Francisco Torres, de siete años de edad y alumno del segundo grado de la Escuela Primaria Frederick Douglass.

Torres formó parte de un grupo de activistas, adheridos a la organización Familias Unidas del Chamizal, quienes exigieron a los representantes de la Ciudad, adoptar una posición sobre el retiro de los camiones en ese puerto de entrada, ahora que el Gobierno federal proyecta actualizar la tecnología, reducir los tiempos de espera y disminuir la contaminación.

A nombre de sus compañeros de clase, y al igual que sus padres y vecinos, el pequeño clamó a las autoridades para que atiendan la problemática mientras exhibía una pancarta con la leyenda “¡Fuera! ¡No trocas!”, con la esperanza de que la lucha comunitaria cristalice en una justicia ambiental.

Integrantes de la agrupación Familias Unidas del Chamizal se manifestaron en la reunión ordinaria de la Ciudad para expresar su rechazo al tráfico comercial internacional en su vecindario

02/14/2024

We ♥️ barrio Chamizal. Show us your love and protect our health. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS TO NEPA BY/BEFORE FRIDAY, FEB. 23, 2024, 3PM (MST) to: [email protected]

We will be collecting comment cards to hand-deliver, too. Please come by Cafe Mayapan, 2000 Texas Ave. to fill out your card

We have not had clean air for 30 years! Protect our health. Tell NEPA to "Get the Trucks Out!"
El Paso's Puente Libre- The Bridge of the Americas in barrio Chamizal is receiving $700+million of federal Bipartisan Infrastructure funding for necessary renovations. This long-overdue investment should be used as intended- to reduce the emissions and address the impact on overburdened, vulnerable communities, specifically, our children’s health.

It's a public health issue. Lives are being affected. To dismiss the health of residents and prioritize industry is not acceptable.”

SAMPLE TEXT: Dear NEPA: (Introduce yourself) My name is ######x and I am very concerned about the health of my community. (Highlight concern) Barrio Chamizal has heavy semi truck traffic is a public heatlh issue causing dangerous levels of pollution. (Personal is Powerful!) My child has difficulty breathing and suffers from asthma. (Demand) Get the Trucks Out, Now! Protect our Health! We urge NEPA to select Option #4: REMOVAL OF COMMERCIAL TRUCKS. (*Extra: Ask Questions) Will NEPA'S Environmental Impact Statement include a Cumulative Impact or Health Analysis? Thank you. Sincerely, ######

02/14/2024

“It’s a public health issue. Lives are being affected,” said Cemelli de Aztlan, a community organizer with La Mujer Obrera, an El Paso organization committed to empowering working women of Mexican heritage. She worries that local leaders aren’t doing enough to elevate the concerns of its most vulnerable residents. “To dismiss the health of residents and prioritize [industry] is not acceptable.”

In light of the federal push to revamp the Bridge of the Americas, some residents say commercial vehicles shouldn’t be using the bridge in the first place given that it’s located so close to homes, schools and churches in a historically disadvantaged neighborhood. For activists like De Aztlan who have been living with the environmental impacts of trucks coming in and out of their communities for years, the goal is clear.

“Get the trucks out,” De Aztlan said.

Neighbors want to ‘get the trucks out’ as the idling vehicles choke the air, causing a public health concern in the historically disadvantaged area

01/29/2024

—- F O R I M M E D I A T E R E L E A S E —-
BARRIO CHAMIZAL RESIDENTS URGE CITY COUNCIL: G E T T H E T R U C K S O U T !

EL PASO, TEXAS- ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2024 Familias Unidas del Chamizal will urge El Paso City Council to Take Action (AGENDA #19) and support residents' demand to get the commercial trucks out of el puente libre- the Bridge of the Americas. Barrio residents have cited serious health and environmental concerns and are asking the El Paso City Council to protect children's health and place a very high priority in communities like ours where environmental injustice has deadly and debilitating consequences. ‘The effects are forever.’

Our neighborhood is subjected to various sources of pollution, the Cumulative Impacts are compounded by concerning health vulnerabilities. Our neighborhood bears many burdens, to include: a major international port-of-entry overloaded w/ diesel trucks emitting high levels of cancerous pollutants; a public school bus terminal of over 150 school buses; industrial waste recycling facilities shredding metals, electronics, and batteries in out-dated & open-air lots; in addition to the 12+ fires/year that erupt from those industrial waste sites. There is an overload of environmental injustice in our neighborhood affecting our children's health.

The residents of Barrio Chamizal demand: ‘Get the trucks out of the Puente Libre!’ The trucks are the highest contributors to diesel particulate matter (see map below) and should be re-routed out of our thriving neighborhood of 7,000+ residents. Our Puente Libre- The Bridge of the Americas is the only toll-free international port of entry because it was intended for the people, not the maquiladora industry. Today, El Puente Libre is the second busiest port-of-entry along the border; and despite years of overuse, the maquiladora industry does not contribute to the maintenance of the bridge, roads and infrastructure they readily overuse.

El Paso’s Bridge of the Americas, El Puente Libre in our neighborhood, is receiving $700+ million of federal Bipartisan Infrastructure funding for necessary renovations. This long-overdue investment should be used as intended- to reduce the carbon footprint and address the impact on overburdened, vulnerable communities, specifically, our children’s health.

Current plans proposed by the federal General Services Administration include: various options of adding more lanes for semi-truck commercial traffic, which will lead to more trucks and more environmental concerns or, Option #4: To Remove Commercial Traffic. If we are able to ‘reduce emissions like black carbon from commercial truck pollution, we would also see an immediate climate benefit.’ We have the opportunity to send our concerns to the federal government.

We ask El Paso Mayor and Council to send a clear message to protect our children’s health and support the removal of commercial truck traffic from el puente libre, The Bridge of the Americas, in barrio Chamizal.

12/08/2023

Order your tamales! 🫔 🫔 🫔 !
Cafe Mayapan’s Menu Navideno🎄🫔 🌽 🫔🎄
Every Friday 11am-3pm & Saturday 8am-3pm: Dec 8-29, 2023. Order your tamales! 🫔 🫔 🫔