(CN) - Two environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Wednesday over the expedited construction of the border wall in Arizona, which they say will block migration for dozens of imperiled species, including endangered jaguars.
"The Trump administration is unconstitutionally running roughshod over our bedrock environmental protections to build his cruel, senseless border wall," said Jean Su, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity in a written statement. "A 30-foot wall will stop majestic jaguars and other endangered animals dead in their tracks, so they'll likely disappear from the U.S. Trump's dangerous obsession with walls and militarization will slash a permanent scar across one of the most biodiverse regions on the continent."
The project is set to cut through Arizona's San Rafael Valley, which the environmental groups call "the beating biodiversity heart of the broader Sky Islands archipelago, a globally recognized hotspot hosting the highest diversity of mammals, reptiles, and ant species anywhere in the country."
Joined by Conservation CATalyst, the center says that the valley is the last place in the United States where wild jaguars and ocelots roam free. A border wall, they say, would block the animals' ability to find mates, food and safety.
"The Arizona Border Wall Project would essentially be the death knell for jaguars in the United States, eliminating over 53 years-worth of jaguar conservation efforts, as well as countless agency, organizational, and tribal efforts and resources, and leaving an irreplaceable void in the landscape that would be continuously felt by the communities who have lived beside them," the two plaintiffs write.
The border between the United States and Mexico is roughly 2,000 miles; numerous stretches of walls, fences and other barriers stand along approximately 700 miles. During his first presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to complete the wall. But progress was slower than he wanted, and slower than he'd later admit. The government added just 50 miles of new wall during Trump's first term, though hundreds of miles more were replaced.
On January 20, the day he was inaugurated for a second time, Trump declared a "national emergency at the southern border," which, among other things, directed the Department of Homeland Security to "construct additional physical barriers along the southern border."
Last month, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem issued a determination waiving 34 environmental laws - including the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act - in order to rebuild a 27-mile section of wall in Arizona.
That section now consists of metal barriers, designed to block vehicles but not pedestrians or wildlife. The federal government plans on replacing them with a 30-foot high wall made of steel bollards spaced four inches apart.
Noem is named as a defendant alongside the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The plaintiffs say that in addition to jaguars and ocelots, more than a dozen of other rare wildlife species live in the remote region including pronghorns, migratory birds and butterflies. They claim there is no evidence that many humans cross over the border in that area.
The $309 million contract to construct the 27-mille section of wall was awarded to Fisher Sand and Gravel, a North Dakota-based company which reports indicate have racked up thousands of environmental violations and paid millions of dollars in penalties.
Source: Courthouse News Service
