Media contacts:
Catalina Tresky, Defenders of Wildlife, ctresky@defenders.org, (202) 772-0253
Courtney Bourgoin, Sierra Club, courtney.bourgoin@sierraclub.org, (202) 495-3022
Animal Legal Defense Fund, media@aldf.org
WASHINGTON (Sept. 14, 2017) – A coalition of national conservation groups including Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club and Animal Legal Defense Fund filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today challenging border wall construction activities that threaten wildlife and public lands in San Diego and Imperial Valley, California.
Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, issued the following statement:
“An impenetrable border wall would divide wildlife and their habitat as well as families and communities across the border. It would bisect and isolate important Southwestern landscapes, pushing borderland wildlife like Peninsular bighorn sheep, jaguars and ocelots to the brink of extinction.
“The border wall serves as a negative symbol of exclusion and fear and sends the wrong message to those pursuing the American Dream. It threatens our shared natural heritage with Mexico, an important partner in bi-national wildlife conservation efforts along the border. Yet, the Trump administration has waived a host of environmental laws to expedite the expansion of such a destructive, arbitrary boundary.
“Nobody is above the law. Environmental laws were enacted to protect imperiled wildlife, delicate landscapes and the American public. And if the Department decides to waive laws to expedite border wall construction in the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, in Texas, Defenders of Wildlife will absolutely challenge DHS in court on that decision as well.”
Dan Millis, director of Sierra Club’s Borderlands Program, issued the following statement:
“These waivers greatly endanger communities in the borderlands: our safety, environment and health. This blatant disregard for effective and well-established safeguards harms hard-working families, threatened and endangered wildlife, and critical natural resources – all of which are essential to the region.”
Stephen Wells, executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, issued the following statement:
“The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security’s unilateral decision to waive vital laws including the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act to build an unnecessary border wall is not only misguided, but unlawful and beyond the authority provided by Congress in the Real ID Act of 2005. These environmental laws were designed to protect the lives and interests of endangered and threatened species such as jaguars and dozens of other species who could be rendered extinct by the construction of the wall.”
“Construction of the border wall would cause permanent and irreparable damage to over a hundred endangered and threatened species that call the border area their home. The wall would literally divide animal families, interfere with breeding and migratory patterns and ultimately may result in the extinction of many of these species. These are the very irreparable harms meant to be prevented by the environmental laws the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has unilaterally waived.”
Defenders of Wildlife is celebrating 75 years of protecting all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With a nationwide network of nearly 2.2 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit defenders.org/newsroom and follow us on Twitter @Defenders.
