{"id":17892,"date":"2018-11-20T10:54:30","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T15:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=17892"},"modified":"2018-12-28T09:29:15","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T14:29:15","slug":"gap-in-federal-law-turns-border-wilderness-to-wasteland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2018\/11\/20\/gap-in-federal-law-turns-border-wilderness-to-wasteland\/","title":{"rendered":"Gap in Federal Law Turns Border Wilderness to Wasteland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among the questionable objections to President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed border wall is the claim that it would \u201ccause serious environmental damage.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

However, environmental damage, and lots of it, is being done daily as human traffickers, drug cartels and other criminal elements crash unsecured sections of the U.S.-Mexico border, trampling delicate plant life and leaving obscene amounts of trash, human waste<\/a> and other carnage<\/a> in their wake.<\/p>\n

Ironically, among the most vulnerable sections are 693 miles ostensibly protected by the U.S.\u00a0 Wilderness Act<\/a>. Included are five wilderness areas that abut the Mexican border in California and Arizona. Fifteen other designated wilderness areas lay within 20 miles of the border.<\/p>\n

While these areas have been protected from law abiding Americans, they haven\u2019t been adequately safeguarded against illegal aliens whose last concern is the integrity of the environment. And as a transit corridor for illegal aliens, this scarred swath of southwestern border territory has become a dangerous, and often polluted, wasteland.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the\u00a0Wilderness Act<\/em>,<\/em> border security officials may be barred from entering designated \u2018wilderness\u2019 areas, leaving our southern border lacking law enforcement and leaving it open for illegal aliens and human- and drug-traffickers to cross into the United States,\u201d says Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is outrageous that we have allowed criminals to take over public lands on our southern border,\u201d added Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.<\/a> In a monumental understatement, Gohmert noted, \u201cThey\u2019re not protecting our lands.\u201d<\/p>\n

To tighten security and safeguard the environment, the House Natural Resources Committee passed Johnson\u2019s \u201cSecuring Our Borders and Wilderness Act (HR 3593<\/a>) last week. The bill amends the 1964 Wilderness Act to allow the U.S. Customs and Border Protection onto otherwise protected lands in order to:<\/p>\n

Access structures, installations and roads.<\/p>\n

Use motor vehicles and aircraft.<\/p>\n

Deploy temporary infrastructure in response to emergencies.<\/p>\n

Construct and maintain roads and fences, subject to the approval of the Department of the Interior.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny such activity shall be carried out in a manner that protects the wilderness character of the area,\u201d the measure stipulates.<\/p>\n

These reasonable amendments to the Wilderness Act come 54 years late and the odds of passage just got longer as Democrats prepare to take control of the House. No Democrats have signed on to HR 3593.<\/p>\n

RELATED: National Parks Under Alien Assault<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Whenever, or if ever, a border wall is constructed, it is more likely to protect delicate southwestern eco-zones, rather than causing environmental damage. As Johnson puts it:<\/p>\n

\u201cAllowing large swaths of our border to go unprotected while illegal immigration numbers soar and caravans of migrants head toward the United States is not only irresponsible, it is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

That danger threatens the integrity of our environment just as profoundly as it threatens our safety and security.