Don't Let the Border Patrol Ruin the Borderlands

Previous border-wall construction undertaken with waivers for environmental laws has resulted in massive damage in the U.S.-Mexico border region. The results have been devastating floods, erosion, destruction of fragile desert habitat and disruption of wildlife migration on a grand scale.

Extending such waivers to a broader range of border-security activities is foolish, potentially disastrous and absolutely unnecessary.

But that is the vote that the newly minted representative for southern Arizona, Ron Barber, has just cast. He has voted to overrule 16 environmental laws within 100 miles of the Mexican border, even though this would silence multiple agencies tasked with keeping it safe, for people and wildlife alike.

Waiving these fundamental environmental laws is likely to decrease border security. Land managers, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Border Patrol have all testified before Congress that collaboration between agencies actually enhances border security, and that the measure Barber voted for was not needed or desired.

Use the form below to tell Rep. Ron Barber that eliminating the rule of law and destroying the borderlands in the name of border security is not why he was elected.