But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being. (Job 12:7-10)

Most people in the U.S. have heard about the construction of hundreds of miles of fences and walls along the U.S.-Mexico border. Few, however, understand that such a barrier will have devastating consequences not only for humans but for wildlife in the border region.

Almost one third of the land on the U.S. side of the border is in public hands. This includes wildlife refuges, national forests and national monuments. The border fence will cut through places like Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona, home to over 500 species of plants, 50 species of mammals and nearly 300 species of birds. In Arizona alone, 39 species are listed as protected or proposed to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. As the fence is built, acre after acre of pristine habitat is destroyed to make way for construction of multilayered fencing and access roads. Animals that regularly migrated back and forth across the border are now cut off from breeding grounds and food sources.

Organ Pipe National Monument, Arizona

For decades, the governments of the U.S. and Mexico worked together to preserve these precious natural habitats and maintain migration routes. But this work is being undone in a matter of months. In September 2007, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff waived 19 laws in order to construct another section of the border fence. This was the third time since 2005 that he used such a waiver. The laws Chertoff found insignificant enough to ignore include the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wilderness Act. These are laws that protect not only wildlife but human health as well.

What allows Chertoff to ignore these laws is a little known provision in the Real ID Act that was meant to be used to accelerate construction of one section of fence in the San Diego region. This provision is now being used by DHS to build the fence in other locations, without proper environmental impact studies and without input from local communities. It is a dangerous, disturbing precedent to allow one government agency to completely ignore laws passed by the U.S. Congress.

Representative Raul Grijalva (AZ-7th) has proposed H.R. 2593, the Borderlands Conservation and Security Act of 2007 in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would:

1. Require compliance with laws meant to protect the air, water, wildlife, culture, and the health and safety of people in borderland communities.
2. Give land management agencies, Native American tribes, and local communities a voice in border construction and decision-making.
3. Provide experts at DHS the ability to decide whether fences, vehicle barriers, or virtual fences would be most effective in securing the border.
4. Provide resources to help mitigate damage to borderland wildlife and resources.

Please call your representative and urge him/her to cosponsor H.R. 2593. Congress is hearing much from those who speak out of fear and xenophobia. Let them hear from those who speak out of a genuine love for all of God’s creation.