New Construction of Border Wall in Texas Seen to Disrupt Wildlife, Environment

President Joe Biden defends the administration's move to continue the construction of the border wall in South Texas because due to the law the money needs to be spent in this fiscal year. Environmental groups fear that this move will only continue to put more migrants in danger, damage the environment and wildlife.

The Department of Homeland Security posted the announcement on the U.S. Federal Registry outlining Starr County, Texas, as part of a busy Border Patrol sector seeing "high illegal entry." According to government data, about 245,000 illegal entries have been recorded so far this fiscal year in the Rio Grande Valley Sector.

"Border walls are not a permanent solution to the migration, it hasn't been able to stop any human migration, it has just moved the problem to other places or put people in danger," said Erick Meza, Sierra Club Borderlands coordinator. "This border wall they are about to do it causes a lot of harm to the environment, to the border communities that live in these environments and wildlife."

The Sierra Club, a grassroots environmental organization stated in a press release that "previous wall construction has cut through a federal wildlife preserve, Tribal lands, and a sacred Arizona spring, among many other important sites home to endangered species, diverse plant life, and more than 400 species of birds.

"Every time we've seen border wall construction with heavy equipment, new roads, increased militarization, lighting infrastructure, these are all things that are going to have a high impact, that in most cases will be irreversible," said Meza.

According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, from 2017 through January 2021, about 450 miles of border wall was built. The wall has affected many areas which has led to sacred Native American sites to be destroyed, critical wildlife corridors interrupted, the free flow of water blocked, and erosion.The border wall could see up to 20 miles of barriers in Starr County, Texas, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.

The Biden Administration waived 26 Federal Laws to Build New Border Wall in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, making them the first democratic administration to use this provision of law frequently used during Trump's presidency. Biden stopped construction of the wall once he took office.

The GAO report found that while building the wall in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas it had fragmented the endangered ocelot's habitat. The barrier system has also severed the animal's travel corridors across the border. Lighting along the border also negatively affects some species' behavior. Disruption of natural light-dark patterns can have negative effects on wildlife and many ecological processes, including orientation, reproduction, communication, competition, and predation.

"Ocelot is an endangered species that is one of the northernmost territories that these species will travel to so if we start decreasing their habitat, we're going to probably lose the species in the United States," said Meza. "That is really bad news for the environment as they are apex predators that are at the top of the food chain and when we start losing this it's going to have a chain reaction on all the other species that live in this ecosystem."

On Thursday, Biden suggested the decision to build the wall was out of his hands. When a reporter asked if Biden believes a border wall is effective in reducing illegal immigration, the president said, "No."

"The Biden administration was not required to expand construction of the border wall — and they certainly were not required to waive several environmental laws to expedite the building," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "The President needs to take responsibility for this decision and reverse course."

Starr County is home to about 65,000 residents spread over about 1,200 square miles (3,108 square kilometers), home to a highly concentrated Latino population.