Border Wall Update

What a week!!!   Last week, our attorneys filed for a motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction and U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar secured language in the Homeland Security Appropriations bill that clawed back 2018 monies for border wall construction at the National Butterfly Center. Although this legislation was only a reprieve from imminent destruction (as we would presumably be right back in the battle for border wall funding for 2020), for a brief moment, we had hope.

Then the judge tossed our case citing actions we never alleged and issues unrelated to our complaint, and the president declared a state of emergency to circumvent Congress and the limits it has placed on monies for border wall construction.

Now, all bets are off.  

Yes, there will be legal challenges to the fake national emergency, but we have no reason to believe any legal action will stop the heavy equipment already at work in the Lower Rio Grande Valley Wildlife Conservation Corridor from advancing. 

Also last week, the International Boundary & Water Commission installed signs on the levee ON OUR PRIVATE PROPERTY that say, "No Trespassing U.S. Government Property," and the heavy equipment began clearing trees and brush from the La Parida Banco National Wildlife Refuge tract west of us. The appliance being used for the clearing reduces a tree and every living creature in it to dust in about 60 seconds.  Click here to see a "showcase" sales video for it; it puts the mulch in Krista Schlyer's photo in context. 

Finally, on Saturday, our board of directors at the North American Butterfly Association voted to invite and allow our indigenous allies, the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, to set up camp on the property. This Butterfly Village represents not only an expansion of our relationship with the tribe, who has performed ritual ceremonies and shared their lifeways, here, supplementing our own community education and conservation efforts; but also an expansion of camps on their ancestral lands, where they intend to celebrate their religious freedom and document the desecration of ancestral gravesites, in spite of the waiver of the Native American Religious Freedom Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act for border wall construction. 

At this time, we are told our lawyers are evaluating options for appealing or re-filing our suit and we may become party to a suit filed by other affected parties related to the emergency declaration. As soon as we know what actions are being taken, we will let you know. 

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to protect the National Butterfly Center, joined our cause, shared our story and engaged with us! 

If you gave $35 or more, we have made you a member of the center and sent you a card, along with a letter explaining the benefits. We know you may never make it to the Lower Rio Grande Valley to visit us, but perhaps you will be able to take advantage of the Reciprocal Admission Program offered by the American Horticultural Society to enjoy more than 300 participating botanical gardens and zoos across the country. 

We are truly grateful for your support and encouragement!
We simply cannot stress that enough,

Marianna T. Wright
Executive Director