Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants tramping through fragile ecosystems and wildlife refuges discarding hundreds of thousands of tons of trash have caused incalculable environmental damage in Arizona’s Sonoran desert and the Rio Grande Valley. Yet, for reasons ranging from fear of alienating lefty donors to concerns over cutting off animal migration routes, environmentalists are opposed to border control measures.
The Associated Pressreports that environmentalists who have acquired and preserved 90,000 riverfront acres of Texas scrub and forest in the Rio Grande Valley over the past 30 years object to Department of Homeland Security’s plans to erect 70 miles of fencing on wildlife refuges along the border with Mexico:
[T]hey fear the hundreds of miles of border fences will undo their work and kill some land animals by cutting them off from the Rio Grande, the only source of fresh water.
A fence could also prevent the ocelots and other animals from swimming across the water to mate with partners on the other side. …
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said environmental concerns will be taken into account in the final decisions. But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has used his authority to waive environmental regulations for security reasons in other states, and Knocke said he would do so in the Rio Grande Valley if necessary. …
The refuges show signs of immigrant activity - food wrappers and water jugs, discarded wet clothing, the plastic bags used to carry a change of clothing across the river. Similar evidence is found up and down the river, despite the presence of Border Patrol agents and the sensors and cameras that make up the current “virtual” fence.
One environmental impact study suggests that the actual damage caused by illegal immigration is far worse than the hypothetical harm fencing could cause.
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