“This enthusiastic response to the administration’s plans for a border wall demonstrates a dangerous normalization of President Trump’s agenda,” Bartlett’s office said in a news release March 15. 

Berkeley is staking claim to be the first city in the nation to resolve to divest from companies helping build President Donald Trump’s United States-Mexico border wall.

A resolution sponsored by Councilman Ben Bartlett and Mayor Jesse Arreguin and unanimously approved by the council on March 14 denounces the presidential executive order to build the wall and recommends the city divest from any company involved in the design, building, financing or other aspects of the project. Trump has trumpeted the wall as crucial to the nation taking control of its borders and keeping out undesirables.
More than 600 vendors, including nearly 100 from California, responded to a Feb. 24 pre-solicitation notice by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to Bartlett’s office.

“This enthusiastic response to the administration’s plans for a border wall demonstrates a dangerous normalization of President Trump’s agenda,” Bartlett’s office said in a news release March 15. “Rather than denouncing the border wall ‘policy’ – which scapegoats immigrants and demonizes our Mexican neighbors – companies are lining up to do business as usual.”

The March 14 council resolution also calls for compiling a list of companies working on the wall, and prohibits the City from contracting with them.

“Societies are weakened through division,” Bartlett said in the release. “History teaches us that policies of economic and social inclusion always result in greater prosperity. We need longer tables, not higher walls.”

The release also quotes Mayor Jesse Arreguin.

“As Mayor, it is my duty to ensure that Berkeley remains a safe place for all its residents,” Arreguin is quoted. “Our city is one that is known for breaking down walls, not building them. We will continue in that tradition regardless of what happens at the federal level.”