By Raquel Anais Smith
Perhaps the greatest signature line – and policy – of the Trump administration has been to “build that wall.” To date, the 650 miles of barriers in existence have succeeded in blocking movement across the border, but not in the way they were intended. Perhaps surprisingly, the greatest impact has not been on migrants or asylum seekers, but the vast array of migratory species – many at risk of extinction – which now find an insuperable, human-built impediment to their natural movements in the middle of the desert.
On the front lines of this advocacy is the Center of Biological Diversity, championing the protection of the borderlands biosites. Notwithstanding, many of its currently active 200+ lawsuits remain pending or unacknowledged in the face of the federal government’s focus on migration as a national security issue, allowing for loopholes which permit border construction to circumvent any environmental review or consultation. With 40 federal laws waived already, what is now considered the largest dismissal of law in US history may very well destroy one of the biggest and most biodiverse ecosystem complexes on the continent.
The Arizona jaguar is the largest cat native to North America and one of its most endangered species, just returning to its ecological role in the southwest United States after being killed to near extinction, with only three sighted since 2015. All three are male, corroborating the common practice for male jaguars to search for new habitat once they outgrow their current territory. Although they are a critical part of the food chain, the jaguar population will not be able to re-establish itself in the US if migration from northern Mexico is blocked. Even if some females were to cross before the wall was constructed, the minuscule population size would precipitate in-breeding and genetic isolation.
According to the Center of Biological Diversity, Trump’s latest plan for approximately 74 miles of border construction would wall off all the jaguar migration corridors between the US and Mexico, blasting through vital protected areas like the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge. Although the Sierra Club and Sky Island Alliance have submitted more than 8,000 statements from people who oppose this new development, the plan is still poised to disregard up to 65 laws that protect public health, clean air and water, as well as endangered species, as specified by Sierra Club Campaign Coordinator Dan Millis.
As the effects of climate change intensify each year, animal migration pathways are more important than ever, ensuring access between increasingly-scarce resources. However, the likes of the bighorn sheep, ocelot, Arizona jaguar, Sonoran pronghorn, Mexican gray wolf, and ferrugimous pygmy owl compose only a small sample of the wildlife threatened by a border policy that fails to demonstrate conclusive data towards how a wall reduces levels of undocumented immigrant crossing.
“This is not just an issue for the US and Mexico. We’re talking about a World Heritage site,” says Alejandro Olivera, Mexico’s representative for the Center for Biological Diversity. “Just as with the Amazon, other countries have a vested interest. We are all stakeholders in impeding environmental catastrophes.”
Raquel Anais Smith focuses on environmental features for a variety of online and print media.
