Unintended Consequences: The Environmental Impact of Border Fencing and Immigration Reform

Abstract

On June 27, 2013, the United States Senate passed S. 744, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” (“Senate Bill”). This legislation represents the most recent effort at comprehensive immigration reform by federal lawmakers. A key part of the legislation involves measures aimed at improving border security. The Senate Bill calls for at least 700 miles of fencing along the Southern border of the United States. In some areas, newer pedestrian fences would replace older vehicle fences, and double layer pedestrian fencing may be added in other locations. Although they have clear national security benefits, border fences raise serious environmental concerns that lawmakers may want to address before any bill authorizing new or re-enforced fencing is signed into law. The recent comprehensive immigration reform debate has focused on the Southwest border of the United States. The effects of increased border security measures on the Southwest’s unique and diverse ecosystems, however, are often overlooked. The border fencing required by the recently proposed Senate Bill will likely cut across delicate desert plant and wildlife habitats. For example, the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation *1048 Area is located on the United States’ border with Mexico, and is estimated to be home to eighty species of mammals, forty species of amphibians and reptiles, and two-hundred fifty species of migrant birds. Unique ecosystems such as the San Pedro Riparian Area are rare in nature. When border fences are allowed to cut across delicate habitats, without the associated effects being fully understood and properly mitigated, the vitality of unique plant and animal species are placed in danger.