John,

Why is President Biden continuing to build Trump’s wall in south Texas, in spite of having to waive 26 laws protecting the public health, cultural resources, and the environment to do so?

“I tried to get them to reappropriate it,” he said, “to redirect that money,” which was allocated before he was elected. “They didn’t. They wouldn’t. And in the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can’t stop that.”

But nothing in the law requires him to waive the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. This is what Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas claims is now necessary, due to “an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States.”

Yet when asked whether he believes a border wall works, the President answered, “No.”

This decision by President Biden is in direct opposition to his campaign promises to stop building Trump’s “wall.” Send him a letter today to hold him accountable to uphold the environmental laws in place to protect this habitat.

The proposed wall cuts through the Lower Rio Grande Valley Wildlife refuge, a wildlife corridor connecting 275 miles of undisrupted habitat along the Rio Grande. Construction would disrupt the sensitive ecosystem, home to multiple endangered species, including ocelots which have already lost much of their native habitat in the Valley.

“Wildlife don’t care if you call it a wall, or a fence, or a barrier. They can’t get through,” said Laiken Jordahl of the Center for Biological Diversity. The wall would prevent wildlife from accessing the river, thwarting the refuge’s attempts to preserve a connected habitat. “The border wall just rips right through,” said Jordahl, “and would totally stop us from achieving that goal of the refuge system.”

Democratic representatives from Texas expressed dismay at the plans, with U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar calling the border wall “a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem.”

But Texas Republicans in Congress expressed skepticism as well. U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw said the President is “not serious. It’s a stunt to grab some headlines.”

President Biden needs to know: These are not the headlines we want to see. Tell the President to abandon his plans to fast track the border wall, creating dangerous conditions for migrants while also ignoring protections for clean water and endangered species.

Send a letter today to urge President Biden to stop building Trump’s wall in south Texas.

Thank you for standing up for the environment, and against continuing the wasteful and divisive tactics of the Trump administration.

- Amanda

Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund