Border wall to split butterfly sanctuary in Rio Grande Valley
High court upholds lower ruling to allow bypass of 28 laws
Bulldozers soon are expected to plow through the protected habitat of the National Butterfly Center along the Rio Grande to clear the way for President Donald Trump’s border wall, which got a green light from the U.S. Supreme Court last week.
Hundreds of thousands of butterflies flit through the center’s 100-acre sanctuary in Mission. But 70 percent of the land will eventually be on the other side of the wall, said Marianna Wright, the center’s executive director.
“Just like farmers get crop yield in acres and inches, we get butterflies based on what we have planted in acres and inches,” Wright said. “So having a wide swath of our property bulldozed is going to negatively impact the volume of the species and diversity of the species.”
The wall could be up to three stories tall, with 18-foot steel beams, called bollards, rising from a concrete base. Construction through the refuge could start in February.
The high court let stand a lower-court court ruling that lets the administration bypass 28 federal laws, mostly intended to protect the environment, to build the wall in the Rio Grande Valley. The Animal Legal Defense Fund and two other organizations had sued the government.
Some of the laws that were waived include the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Environmental activists say construction of the wall could lead to the extinction of endangered species such as the ocelot, contamination of drinking water and destruction of indigenous historical sites.
“The border wall and the border region is an area of tremendous biodiversity and wildlife,” said Tony Eliseuson, a senior staff attorney for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit based in Northern California. “It’s a very rich environmental area, and this border wall will have a devastating impact on
both the environment and many, many species.”
In refusing to hear the case, the Supreme Court upheld a February ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel of San Diego in favor of the government.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in an October notice that the flow of unauthorized immigrants and drugs along the border demonstrated “an acute and immediate need” for a wall.
The immigration reform act of 1996 and a 2005 update, the Real ID Act, grant the government broad powers to waive federal laws to expedite construction projects on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Contract workers appeared unannounced on the butterfly center’s property in July 2017. Chainsaws in hand, they began clearing out protected habitat where the border wall was planned.
Surveying began before Congress approved $1.6 billion for 100 miles of new and replacement fencing, with 33 of those miles in the Rio Grande Valley. The Senate has locked in another $1.6 billion for the next fiscal year, though Trump is asking for at least $5 billion and has threatened a partial government shutdown if Congress rejects the funding.
U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, whose district includes a stretch of the border from Brownsville to McAllen, managed to exclude the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge from the current wall budget. He said it was “devastating” that the wall will cut through the butterfly center, the historic La Lomita Chapel, Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park and possibly dozens of family cemeteries.
“All those areas, with the 2018 funding that’s already been passed, are going to be horribly affected,” Vela said.
“We’re on the verge of giving Trump his third down payment on his $25 billion border wall,” he said. “It’s death by a thousand cuts and we’re not getting any immigration relief in return.”
Sen. Ted Cruz and three other Republican senators introduced a bill this week to fully fund the $25 billion, which Democrats are likely to block.
In two environmental policy statements posted online, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said it will “consider environmental factors” on projects and will comply with applicable environmental laws.
The U.S.-Mexico border, which spans nearly 2,000 miles, has about 650 miles of existing fencing.
By waiving requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Trump administration also will bypass an analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the wall. The federally regulated analysis typically offers ways to mitigate the environmental damage of construction projects.
“It’s a lot harder to clean up after the fact than prevent it in the first place,” Eliseuson said.
Other laws being waived for the construction include the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act and the Clean Air Act.