Photo: Nature Butterfly Center
The effects of Trump’s border wall are mostly geared toward illegal immigration, but it also has the potential to hurt ecosystems and tourism in the already impoverished Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
One such victim will likely be the National Butterfly Center located in Mission, the president of the North American Butterfly Association, Dr. Jeffrey Glassberg, tells PEOPLE.
National Butterfly Center.Nature Butterfly Center
“On a good day you can see a cloud of 200,000 butterflies, and that’s what the border wall is threatening to destroy,” Glassberg says.
The White House did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Glassberg has already received confirmation that construction will destroy at least a 150-foot swath south of the wall, eradicating “a huge growth of tree and vegetation on our property … We’ve also heard intonations they will decide to clear everything south of the wall,” which would destroy up to 70 percent of the center, he adds.
Without the center, some 6,000 school children who visit each year would not be able to learn about the local ecosystem firsthand, says Glassberg, and the area — made up of four of the poorest counties in the U.S. — would stand to lose millions of tourism dollars.
In addition, Glassberg stresses that butterflies have a tremendous impact on the environment. “If butterflies are dying off, that’s not a good sign,” he says.
Building a border wall separating the U.S. from Mexico was one of President Donald Trump‘s central campaign promises, and on Tuesday,he sparred with Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumerover its construction, telling them he’d be “proud to shut down the government” to fund it,Vox.com reported.
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“If we don’t get what we want one way or another… I will shut down the government,” Trump said, according to the outlet. “The people of this country don’t want criminals and people who have lots of problems — and drugs — pouring into our country. I will take the mantle.”
Speaking to reporters outside of the Oval Office, Schumer said of the president, “This Trump shutdown, this temper tantrum that he seems to throw, will not get him his wall and will hurt a lot of people.”
Ahead of the meeting, Trump addressed the funding issue in a series of tweets, claiming that “open borders” bring “large-scale crime and disease.”
He added that he was looking forward to his meeting with Schumer and Pelosi.
According to Vox.com, Trump has already signed several spending bills relating to the wall into law, but there are still seven to be voted on. Since no compromise was reached on Tuesday, it’s unclear if the Department of Homeland Security, which would oversee the construction, will get the necessary cash.
source: people.com
