Border Fence and the Endangered Species – Part 1

The next couple of discussions will focus on the U.S.–Mexican border fence. I’ll talk about the species and the habitats that will be affected, the politics, and share my opinion of this structure.

Let’s start with an overview.

Among the various national issues, immigration is one of the top concerns for U.S. voters. According to a Pew Research Center study, Republican voters ranked immigration the third most important issue behind the Iraq war and the economy. For Democratic voters, immigration ranked seventh, it is considered more important than the environment and the budget deficit.

To ‘calm’ the Americans’ anxiety, a border fence along the U.S.–Mexican border will be built in an attempt to keep illegal immigrants and smugglers out of the U.S. territory. Effectiveness of such a fence is questionable, but its devastating impacts on wildlife have drawn concerns from several environmental groups.

This man-made barrier will fragment habitats, block the migration paths of terrestrial animals, and threaten the survival of several endangered species. In spite of the known environmental threats, the Bush administration insists on the construction. Even worse, it has side-stepped regulations required by the ESA to perform environmental assessments.

On October 26, 2006, President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 which authorized the building of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border. Despite the inconsistency with his agenda on immigration reform, Bush endorsed this measure to show support for the many Republicans who faced reelection pressure in the 2006 mid-term election.

This double-layer fence will have 5 sections covering the ‘troubled areas’ from California to Texas. A section of the fence in Tucson will be built as “virtual fence” to test remote sensing technology; the price tag for that 28-mile portion is $67 million. The whole fence is estimated to cost $3 million to $10 million per mile, and so far $1.2 billion have been appropriated to start building the infrastructure.

On 2/28/2008, an NPR program reported that the Tucson “virtual fence” has been riddled with technical problems and the 1st phase of the project will be delayed by at least three years. The complete story is available in http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87775219.