The structure of barriers along the U. S. southern border has destroyed sensitive ecosystems, public lands and indigenous cultural sites, according to a report by a nonpartisan government agency.
Released Thursday, the 72-page report marks the first independent effort through the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess destruction through the border wall structure.
It describes government contractors “blowing up” a sacred indigenous burial with explosives and leaving a mountainside “in danger of collapsing,” amid incidents of damage.
The report focuses on an era from 2017 to January 2021, the tenure of former President Donald Trump. While the document never mentions Trump by name, it explains that the federal government at the time relied on national security provisions to circumvent existing protections.
“Federal agencies have built about 450 miles [724 kilometers] of barriers along the southwest border of the United States. To speed up construction, they waived environmental and federal laws,” the GAO said in its summary.
“The construction has affected some cultural and herbal resources, for example by blowing up a tribal cemetery and changing the water supply. “
– Laiken Jordahl (@LaikenJordahl) September 7, 2023
This report is the most comprehensive to date on the negative effects of the border wall. This comes as immigration remains a hot spot in American politics, especially in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.
“This report highlights the damage the wall has inflicted on wildlife, public lands and indigenous cultural sites,” Laiken Jordahl, a southwest conservationist at the Center for Biological Diversity, told Al Jazeera.
“This report by an independent, fact-based firm confirms what we’ve been sounding the alarm about for years. “
Trump has made the promise of a large wall on the U. S. -Mexico border a centerpiece of his 2016 presidential campaign, which relied on anti-immigration rhetoric and portrayed migrants as resources for crime and violence.
The slogans “Build the wall” are a staple of Trump’s election rallies.
These cries are from a developing foreign trend. Over the past two decades, the number of border barriers has increased, and countries such as the Dominican Republic, Poland and India have taken steps to erect fences and entire walls.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates that in 2022 there were 74 border barriers worldwide, up from less than a dozen at the end of the Cold War.
However, the GAO report suggests serious consequences for environmental and cultural resources if the structure is evaluated beforehand.
“Prior to construction, the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] evaluated some potential effects of construction,” the report says. “But federal officials and stakeholders said they had not received enough data from DHS to make a meaningful contribution. “
Construction efforts have been confusing throughout the geography of America’s southern border: many stretches cross rugged and inhospitable territories, deserts, mountains and even coastal beaches.
To boost structure in those landscapes, the Trump administration relied on the Real ID Act of 2005, which allows the government to waive laws and regulations that would possibly be an impediment to the structure of border walls and highways.
While previous administrations had invoked the Real ID Act, the Trump administration did so with unprecedented zeal, between 25 and 30 times, compared to just five under the Bush administration.
The Trump administration has also declared illegal crossings at the southern border a national emergency, authorizing the government to back down on the national security call.
“The Trump administration has differentiated that legislation and moved forward thinking about the consequences,” Jordahl said.
This authority allowed the government to forget the considerations of indigenous communities in spaces where it sought to advance construction, such as an oasis of sacred value for the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona, known as Quitobaquito Springs.
“As O’odham ancestors inhabited the site for thousands of years, it hosts several O’odham burial sites,” the report says.
“According to Tohono O’odham Nation officials, contractors cleared a giant domain near the springs, destroying a burial the tribe sought to protect. “
In the end, Trump finished the 458-mile (737-kilometer) border structure, though much of it overlapped existing barriers. The GAO found that 81% of Trump’s wall replaced barriers erected under his predecessors like former President George W. Bush. que innovate.
During his presidential campaign, current President Joe Biden promised to finish the structure of the border walls, saying that “not one more foot” would be built during his term.
Biden halted construction as soon as he took office in January 2021. However, the GAO report issues a warning about the suspension of all resources for the border wall area: “The suspension of construction and the cancellation of contracts have also interrupted recovery work, such as the finishing touch of water drainage structures and the reseeding of disturbed spaces with water. Native vegetation.
Jordahl, for his part, believes more needs to be done to counter the damage.
“Ultimately, we need to remove this wall of delicate ecosystems that have been damaged,” he said.