Border Fence May Destroy Wildlife Habitat

Although the fence was initially talked up in terms of protection against terrorism, Ahlenius is one of many South Texans who believe it has morphed into something else.

"I honestly believe it is a backlash against the illegal immigration and not about terrorism. The fence is not going to stop illegal immigrationÉThis is bordering on being a racist issue. It's a sad day when this country, founded on immigration, has to build walls to stop people."

Allen and others have talked about filing lawsuits against the federal government over the fence. "I think everything's in play," Ahlenius says. "I wouldn't be surprised that we'd see cities along the border saying that they're sanctuary cities. That they're not going to enforce the immigration laws of the United States. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw that happen if the fence is built.

"This is being driven by folks in the Midwest and East Coast who don't understand the dynamics of two cultures, two languages, how interwoven everybody is."

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The belief that outsiders don't understand the South Texas border is one constant in any conversation down here.

Mike Allen, who is retiring from the economic development corporation and the Texas Border Coalition (made up of border officials) and who was Border Texan of the Year in 2006 (sharing the honor with Sen. Cornyn), certainly thinks so. He goes back and forth across the border for business all the time, setting up maquiladoras, starting manufacturing plants, mustering up fairly serviceable Spanish as needed.

"Ninety-five percent of the people who live in our community are Hispanic or Mexican-American. Fifty-four percent of the people who live in McAllen have family in Mexico. So would you want a wall separating your family?

The Sierra Club's Scott Nicol makes the same point. "A lot of people outside of the area think of it as being like the [sparsely populated] Arizona border." Besides the fact that there's one million U.S. citizens living there, the ties with their sister border cities are long-term. The sister cities used to be a single city, built around a river, Nicol says. "When the river became the border, they split."

"It's a shame that our destiny is destined by people who don't even live in our community, who don't understand what they are doing. Who certainly don't understand how to stop illegal immigration," Allen says.

"The Border Patrol is busy chasing gardeners and maids across the river," Allen says. He has little use for a Republican Congress that he says has put its whole emphasis on building a fence. At the same time, he points out that Hillary Clinton also voted for the fence.

As little faith as he has in politicians, he has less in DHS.

"I think we have not been dealt with honestly, and it would have been better for Homeland Security to say, ‘We don't care what you think. We're going to build the wall and that's it.' It would have been much more honest to say that."

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Keith Hackland is a devoted birder who makes his living operating Alamo Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in Alamo, and by guiding birders. He is one example of the infrastructure both public and private that has grown enormously in the last 20 years in the Valley to support birding.

What he offers birders is the chance to see one rare species of bird after another, in an area roughly 40 miles wide and 140 miles long. That area has more than 300 butterfly species, more than 120 dragonfly species and more than 1,200 plant species.

"Without doing a lot of driving in a day, you can pick up 50 to 100 species. For many birders, these are birds they've seen for the first time," he says.

Steve Alhenius of the Chamber says that in the last six to eight years, a lot of cities have invested in putting together their own birding centers.

McClung says as a result, there's more infrastructure in place to support birding than anywhere else in the country.

"Ecotourism here is 90 to 95 percent birding. $150 million a year birding," McClung says. "I'm a hard-core birder, and I know that's true. $150 million. That's big money in a place as economically depressed as the Rio Grande Valley is."

"So it isn't just a matter of loving the birdies. It's a matter of money, too."

Hackland, who was raised in South Africa and first came to Texas as an exchange student in the late 1960s, says in terms of biodiversity, South Texas has everything that Africa has except for the big mammals.

There will be a worldwide outcry from conservationists if the fence is built, he says.

"It's a political problem that needs a political solution because there's nothing rational about it. It's stupid. It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of."

Lack of habitat will probably force the birds to move south 200–250 miles into similar habitat in Mexico, Hackland says. "We would lose the birds. We would lose the birders."