Border wall slicing through Arizona wildlife corridor begins construction: ‘A show of force for nothing’ | US immigration

ONa Terrière Sumber Day of September, the sound of the cicadas has pierced the deep silence in the sprawling meadows And hills slowly rolling from the San Rafael valley in southern Arizona. But shortly after, the acute buzzing gave way to the rumble of heavy machines sculpting an unpaved road leading to the American-Mexican border.

In the distance, a deer crossed the road and disappeared in a thicket of oaks. A few kilometers later, a closed worker camp appeared, next to a site full of trucks, bulldozers and cranes.

The San Rafael Valley, southeast of Tucson, is considered one of the most biodiversity regions in North America. But in recent days, an imposing black steel wall has started to get up on the landscape.

The Trump administration is displayed with plans to erect a section of 27 miles from the border wall here, despite a legal challenge that still takes place in the courts. Once finished, the 30 -foot high barrier will tear through one of the last virgin and uninterrupted meadows to the west.

Trump’s commitment to “build the wall” between the United States and Mexico was an absolute priority during its first mandate, but the 1,954-thousand border is still full of shortcomings. Construction in this remote valley is part of the efforts in several states to speed up new sections along the southern border.

The new wall is intended to replace the low barriers that stop vehicles but always allow the fauna to pass. Even before the start of construction, many Arizonians were concerned about the impact of the plan on the many wild species that move regularly between the two countries – including jaguars, ocelots, bears and mountain lions.

“Wildlife existed there and has evolved over thousands of years in a connected ecosystem and this wall will break the populations in half,” explains Russ McSpadden, defender of southwest conservation at the Center for Biological Diversity. The barrier, he says, can prevent animals – including the endangered Jaguar – from migrating to find food and friends, which could mean their possible extinction.

The possibility of exhaustion of water has also concerned residents in an arid landscape which is already struggling with drought. New wells are pierced to attract groundwater to mix with concrete for the wall foundation. Previous projects on the border wall required large amounts of water, reaching hundreds of thousands of gallons per day.

“It is discouraging to see already wall panels,” said Erick Meza, the Borderlands coordinator for the Sierra Club. “All this place looks like an industrial area now. And we know that this is only the beginning.”

The wall even takes shape as a legal challenge occurs before the Federal Court on the issue of derogations by the Trump administration which cancels more than 30 Environmental and public health laws to accelerate construction. Kristi Noem, director of the Ministry of Internal Security, illegally characterized the wall project to prevent people from entering the country.

John Mennell, spokesperson for customs and borders (CBP), who oversees the construction of the walls, refused to comment on the trial or one of the concerns raised.

But local residents such as Linda Shore, director of the Red Rock Acres Homeowners Association in the former mining outpost of Patagonia near the border, are not convinced.

Shore is not delighted with the wall, or construction trafficking that could lead to accidents on what she says is a dangerous intersection near her house.

But for her, the biggest problem has to do with the way the wall could hurt the fauna and drain water resources at a time when illegal border crossings are low of all time.

Customs and border protection data show that Arizona, these passages in August fell by more than 90% in August 2024 along the Tucson sector which covers 262 border miles. And this part of the San Rafael valley was not traditionally a frequent passage site, according to some residents of the region and conservation groups which monitor animal movements along the border with cameras.

“In my mind, it’s a great show of strength for nothing,” says Shore.

The San Rafael valley is spreading between the islands of the Heaven of Madrean which extend on both sides of the border. The biomes of isolated mountain chains change with the elevation of the desert to the forest, creating a unique ecosystem where thousands of animals thrive.

Human history has also left its mark on the distant valley over the centuries. At the end of the 1800s, the vast expanse signaled the livestock farming operations which became an important economic engine in the region. Some cattle ranges remain in what is a mixture of federal, state and private land – thanks to conservation efforts – is largely intact. Over time, small rural communities like Patagonia have been built around it.

These communities and other communities in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, will inevitably feel the effect of a wall which is likely to modify the balance of the ecosystem and the overall health of the earth, explains Zach Palma, director of projects of Mexico for Sky Island Alliance, a non -profit organization of Tucson. “This type of degradation, in the long term, indirectly affects everyone, in particular these rural communities whose livelihoods depends on the land, be it farming or agriculture.”

The non -profit organization works with breeders and small farmers in Santa Cruz, Sonora, a small community in the wider region of the island of Sky which already fights with shallow grounds. “With drought, they experienced their wells by going deeper and deeper,” explains Palma.

John Fanning, member of the Santa Cruz County Supervisors Council, said some of his voters live in the County Far East expanses, which includes San Rafael. Some of these rural residents promote a wall near their communities due to previous meetings with border drops “appearing on their properties and giving them fear”.

But others are wary that the wall can cause the water shortage.

“We do not know what will happen to the wells of some of the people who live there,” explains Fanning. “But in my opinion, I do not think it will have a positive effect. If anything, it may exhaust the water on which these people count.”

There has been little transparency about the construction of the wall since its announcement, explains Fanning. But representatives of the Federal Agency and Fisher Sand & Gravel, the Northern Dakota entrepreneur working on the project of more than $ 300 million, recently informed a local committee of government officials and residents that around 150 workers will build the Bollard Wall in steel in the next 30 months. The company did not respond to Guardian’s request by phone for more details on the project.

“I think the federal government, if that’s what they want to happen, it will happen,” he said. “But it’s great to know what will happen so that I can then leave the voters of our county, especially in this area, have an idea of ​​the progress that is made.”

Semi-trailers carrying construction equipment and frequently leading rural communities to the border become a familiar spectacle for residents. They bypass the city center of Patagonia, but travel on a road in front of the subdivision of Shore.

Carol Bonchalk-Hilton, who lives on the limit of the valley in the ancient town of Mining Boomtown of Washington Camp, says that at night, she can see the dark sky light up from the workers’ camp. His house is in the community not very populated by 16 miles away.

The retiree does not take care of the border walls built in places where it may be necessary, but says that it thinks that surveillance technology would have been a better alternative for San Rafael.

Instead, says Bonchalk-Hilton, the wide open views of the valley “will now be blackened by a solid wall that crosses it. You have the back and forth fauna. This is the problem. “