Homeland Security Spending Bill Funds Border Wall Construction, Species Destruction

WASHINGTON (July 12, 2017) – The House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee is set to approve $1.6 billion for the expansion of the U.S.-Mexico border wall as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s fiscal year 2018 spending bill, meeting the White House’s FY 2018 budget request from earlier this year.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, issued the following statement:

“The House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee has acquiesced to President Trump’s request. But Congress works for the American people, most of whom oppose funding for the expansion of the wall along the southern border.

“An impenetrable wall would divide families and communities along the border and bisect and isolate important Southwestern landscapes, pushing borderland wildlife like jaguars, Mexican gray wolves and ocelots to the brink of extinction.

“The damage of an expanded border wall would be irreparable environmentally, socially and economically. There are better ways to use $1.6 billion, like funding science programs that could help us understand how climate change - a real and serious threat to wildlife and communities alike - could pose a threat to our national security. In addition, spending such a large amount of federal funding to bolster political theater and myths about border insecurity is shameful, especially when there are many programs and communities deserving of federal funding where we are seeing proposed cuts.

“Budget proposals that aim to expand the border wall are irresponsible and go against our core American values - equality, justice and the preservation of our natural heritage.”