Don't Put Border Wildlife in Jeopardy
- by: Defenders of Wildlife
- recipient: U.S. Senate
The U.S. Senate will soon begin consideration of the immigration bill which includes provisions that will almost certainly harm the wildlife that inhabit and migrate across our nation's southern border.
If included, these provisions would sever crucial and sensitive wildlife habitat that jaguars, ocelots and other cross-border wildlife depend on.
These provisions are unnecessary and dangerous to borderland wildlife. Tell your senator to ensure removal of these provisions from S. 744!
If included, these provisions would sever crucial and sensitive wildlife habitat that jaguars, ocelots and other cross-border wildlife depend on.
These provisions are unnecessary and dangerous to borderland wildlife. Tell your senator to ensure removal of these provisions from S. 744!
Dear Senator,
I am writing to urge you to oppose unnecessary anti-environmental provisions that have been included in S. 744, "The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act." These are extreme provisions that eliminate the rule of law and will result in severe damage to sensitive creatures and habitats. I am disappointed that a bill on immigration reform would be used to undermine environmental protection in the name of border security. We do not have to trade one for the other -- we can have both.
[Your comments will be inserted here.]
As the U.S. Senate considers this bill, I ask that you oppose the following three provisions and that you work to remove or improve them:
1) Waiver of Laws. The bill restates and broadens extreme and sweeping authority given to the Secretary of Homeland Security in 2005 to waive any federal, state, or local laws for construction of barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border. Former Secretary Michael Chertoff used this authority five times, waiving nearly 40 federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as related local and state laws for the construction of approximately 650 miles of border walls, barriers, and roads along the U.S.-Mexico Border. This waiver is still actively being used for additional projects. Rather than repealing or narrowing the authority granted in 2005, this legislation actually broadens it to encompass other border security infrastructure.
2) Southern Border Fencing Strategy. The bill includes an ill-advised provision requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a "Southern Border Fencing Strategy" to identify where additional fencing, infrastructure, and technology should be deployed along the Southern border. I am opposed to the construction of additional walls at the border. The walls constructed to date have resulted in serious environmental and economic impacts due to massive flooding, debris, and other associated impacts to the landscape. In some places, the wall -- built at a cost of millions of dollars per mile -- has fallen down because of such problems. Private property, commercial businesses, roads and public lands have been damaged, and critical wildlife migration pathways have been severed. Further, there has been no evidence shown in reports by the General Accountability Office or other organizations that the wall has made a significant contribution to border security.
3) Access to Public Lands. The bill includes an unnecessary provision directing the Secretaries of the Departments Agriculture and Interior to provide to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol immediate access to Federal lands within 100 miles of the border in Arizona for routine motorized patrols and the deployment of communications, surveillance and detection equipment. There is already ongoing coordination between the federal land management agencies and Border Patrol for any needed access to federal lands.
Again, I urge you to oppose these extreme and unnecessary anti-environmental provisions and to take all possible steps to have them removed from the bill. We do not need to sacrifice our wildlife and wildlands under the guise of increasing border security. We can secure the border while also preserving the rule of law and maintaining environmental protections. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Sign PetitionSign PetitionI am writing to urge you to oppose unnecessary anti-environmental provisions that have been included in S. 744, "The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act." These are extreme provisions that eliminate the rule of law and will result in severe damage to sensitive creatures and habitats. I am disappointed that a bill on immigration reform would be used to undermine environmental protection in the name of border security. We do not have to trade one for the other -- we can have both.
[Your comments will be inserted here.]
As the U.S. Senate considers this bill, I ask that you oppose the following three provisions and that you work to remove or improve them:
1) Waiver of Laws. The bill restates and broadens extreme and sweeping authority given to the Secretary of Homeland Security in 2005 to waive any federal, state, or local laws for construction of barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border. Former Secretary Michael Chertoff used this authority five times, waiving nearly 40 federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as related local and state laws for the construction of approximately 650 miles of border walls, barriers, and roads along the U.S.-Mexico Border. This waiver is still actively being used for additional projects. Rather than repealing or narrowing the authority granted in 2005, this legislation actually broadens it to encompass other border security infrastructure.
2) Southern Border Fencing Strategy. The bill includes an ill-advised provision requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a "Southern Border Fencing Strategy" to identify where additional fencing, infrastructure, and technology should be deployed along the Southern border. I am opposed to the construction of additional walls at the border. The walls constructed to date have resulted in serious environmental and economic impacts due to massive flooding, debris, and other associated impacts to the landscape. In some places, the wall -- built at a cost of millions of dollars per mile -- has fallen down because of such problems. Private property, commercial businesses, roads and public lands have been damaged, and critical wildlife migration pathways have been severed. Further, there has been no evidence shown in reports by the General Accountability Office or other organizations that the wall has made a significant contribution to border security.
3) Access to Public Lands. The bill includes an unnecessary provision directing the Secretaries of the Departments Agriculture and Interior to provide to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol immediate access to Federal lands within 100 miles of the border in Arizona for routine motorized patrols and the deployment of communications, surveillance and detection equipment. There is already ongoing coordination between the federal land management agencies and Border Patrol for any needed access to federal lands.
Again, I urge you to oppose these extreme and unnecessary anti-environmental provisions and to take all possible steps to have them removed from the bill. We do not need to sacrifice our wildlife and wildlands under the guise of increasing border security. We can secure the border while also preserving the rule of law and maintaining environmental protections. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
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