Defenders' Experts
Border Legislation
Nearly one-third of the 1,950 mile U.S./Mexico border lies within military, tribal, and public lands, including wilderness areas, national wildlife refuges, national forests, national monuments, state parks and hundreds of miles within the national park system. Much of this country’s most spectacular and imperiled wildlife, including jaguars, ocelot, bighorn sheep, Sonoran pronghorn, and hundreds of bird species, depend upon protected public lands along the border for intact habitat and survival. Local communities also rely on access to protected natural areas for clean water, recreation, economic development and high quality of life.
Unfortunately, Congress has authorized the construction of hundreds of miles border walls and roads to be built across these lands and has granted the Secretary of Homeland Security the right to waive all federal, state and local laws in the construction of the wall. Nearly 700 miles of wall and vehicle barriers have been built thus far. As a result, fragile habitat has been destroyed, ecologically important water flows have been disrupted, wildlife corridors have been severed, cultural resources and sacred sites have been disrupted, and protected land has been damaged. There is no comprehensive plan to monitor or mitigate for these impacts. Similarly, there has been little consultation with affected communities.
Even worse, more bills have been introduced in this Congress that would further undermine protection of border wildlife and wild lands.
Border Security That Includes Borderlands Conservation
Learn about the impacts of border activities on wildlife and sensitive lands and Defenders of Wildlife's proposed solutions.
Borderlands Mitigation Funding
Since 2005, the Department of Homeland Security has waived dozens of laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air and Water Acts, to expedite construction of some 700 miles of border wall and other infrastructure that now divides the U.S. from Mexico.
The wall blocks wildlife from moving between habitats on both sides of the border and has caused major flooding in border towns along the wall in the U.S. and Mexico – among other environmental impacts. To date, Homeland Security has spent only a little over 10 percent of $50 million in funding it had initially promised for mitigation under the Bush administration. A significant component of the planned mitigation involves the acquisition of land from willing sellers primarily in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to re-establish movement corridors for the endangered ocelot. However, Homeland Security discovered it needed additional authority to allow it to transfer funding directly to the Department of the Interior for land acquisition. That authority was included in the House of Representatives FY 2012 Department of Homeland Security funding bill but was removed by an amendment on the House floor.
The Senate now needs to include language in its FY 2012 Department of Homeland Security funding bill granting the authority to transfer the funding pledged two and a half years ago to help the ocelot and other imperiled wildlife harmed by the border wall before the land is sold to another buyer.
The Border Security and Responsibility Act of 2009
Defenders advocates for a responsible approach to border security. During the 111th Congress, Defenders worked for passage of H.R. 2076, the Border Security and Responsibility Act, which was introduced by Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ). This legislation unfortunately did not pass, but a similar bill is likely to be reintroduced in the 112th Congress very soon.
The Border Security and Responsibility Act would help better protect our borders, both in terms of security effectiveness and conservation. The legislation articulates several principles that Defenders supports:
- Repeal the Real ID Act waiver authority, which allows DHS to waive all environmental and other laws in constructing the wall, and restore the rule of law.
- Develop a new border security strategy informed by a comprehensive cost-effectiveness analysis of various border security alternatives.
- Develop a borderlands monitoring and mitigation plan to address the full range of ecological and environmental impacts of existing and any future border infrastructure and operations.
- Require meaningful consultation with private landowners as well as public-land and wildlife managers prior to additional construction.
- Temporarily suspend construction of additional miles of border wall until the functional and cost assessments can be completed.
Bills to Watch Out For
Several dangerous bills have been introduced in the current Congress that would wreak havoc on America’s borderlands.
S. 803 – The Border Security Enforcement Act of 2011
Sponsored by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
This misguided bill would require hundreds more miles of double- and triple-layered border wall, and allows unfettered motorized access on all lands, including wilderness areas, within 150 miles of the Southwest border, with no required safeguards for sensitive lands.
H.R. 1091 – The Unlawful Border Entry Prevention of 2011
Sponsored by Rep. Duncan Hunter, Jr. (R-CA)
This bill would require an additional 350 miles of reinforced fencing to be build along the Southwest border (in addition to the nearly 700 miles that have already been built), potentially affecting environmentally sensitive lands and established conservation areas.
H.R. 1505 – National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act of 2011
Sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT)
This misleadingly-named bill would actually not protect federal lands at all, but would instead waive a total of 31 environmental laws for the Department of Homeland Security within 100 miles of all U.S. borders – including coastal ones. This means that if the Department of Homeland Security is conducting activities it says are needed to secure the border it would not have to follow any of these laws – such as the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and many others – within 100 miles of any border, an area that is home to 2/3 of all Americans, and includes the entire states of Florida, Hawaii, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.
H.R. 1922 - To provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection with access to Federal lands to carry out certain security activities in the Southwest border region, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. Dan Quayle (R-AZ)
This bill describes its purpose as giving Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents access to federal lands. However, the land management agencies already coordinate with CBP to allow access. The bill would give CBP unlimited access to all federal lands – including military installations and tribal lands – within 150 miles of the US-Mexico border for “security activities,” which are not defined. This bill would eliminate all protections for natural and cultural resources on these lands, with no option for legal recourse.
Publications, Fact Sheets and Letters
A timeline of events involving Department of Homeland Security actions since the passage of the REAL ID Act of 2005 and Secure Fence Act of 2007.
Fact sheet describing the impacts of border fences on central Arizona's Organ Pipe National Monument.
Continental DivideOur borderlands are in jeopardy. Learn more about the impacts of the border wall on communities, wildlife and the environment in this brochure featuring photography by the International League of Conservation Photographers.
En el LimiteLea nuestro extensivo reporte acerca de los retos que se enfrentan en la frontera Arizona-Mexico.
Letter from Congressmen from districts along the border to Department of Homeland Secretary Chertoff urging more public input on border wall construction.
November 2007 request for action from more than 40 conservationists, educators, scientists, and state and federal agency representatives have worked together for 3 years to identify the actions needed to mitigate the impacts of border security operations.
April 2007 stakeholder recommendations from a series of symposiums organized by Defenders of Wildlife and the Wildlands Project to examine border security impacts and make sound, science-based recommendations for addressing them.
