Every year at the “Border Security” Expo in San Antonio, TX, HUNDREDS of companies feature the “hottest gear” — THOUSANDS of military-grade weapons and surveillance products. And it’s all for sale.
Luckily for these vendors, the Trump administration is willing to pay with dollars AND our civil liberties. What's more, expos like these are one place militarization thrives. Trump’s secret police in Portland included Department of Homeland Security agents — equipped with the latest gear — who beat and arrested Black Lives Matter protestors with impunity and without cause. This has got to be the LAST straw.
We need to shut this expo 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, and if there’s anything corporations care about, it’s their brand. So we’ve got to get LOUD and let last year’s lead sponsor — Verizon Wireless — know that if they sponsor this event again, they’re just doubling down on hate and militarism.
Tell Verizon: Stop fueling CBP’s hate and abuse! Make 2020 the last year you sponsor this Expo.