About 150 residents gathered in Watsonville Plaza on Tuesday to protest Granite Construction, a company that recently bid to be one of the companies contracted to build President Donald Trump’s proposed wall on the southern border. Bidders must submit their final proposals by March 10.
Watsonville Brown Berets, a Chicanx advocacy group, led the group on a march to the Granite Construction headquarters to denounce the company’s recent bid.
“We are here to peacefully protest for Granite Construction to reconsider and rethink placing this bid on Trump’s wall along the southern border,” said member of Watsonville Brown Berets Michael Joseph.
Community members gathered in front of Granite Constructions, shouting rallying chants such as “Hey, hey, ho, ho all the walls have got to go — hey, hey, ho, ho from Palestine to Mexico” and cheering on cars that honked in support.
Watsonville has a large community of undocumented residents. Demonstrator and community member Ramiro Medrano said, it’s a “slap in the face.”
“Watsonville has been an immigrant community since its inception, and we are also a sanctuary city and a sanctuary district […] It is contradictory,” Medrano said.
UC Santa Cruz also does business with Granite Construction through the Sewer System Management Plan, where they are listed as one of the “current contractors with service agreements.”
The organizers of the Watsonville boycott attempted to speak to a representative of the construction company but were unsuccessful. Granite Construction was unable to be reached for comment.
“[Granite Construction] built its wealth off the backs of people and labor from Watsonville,” demonstrator Leah Martinez said. “[…] So we want to show support for those people by letting Granite know that it is not okay to put in a bid to build this wall.”
