Thanks for writing about this! Border fences just appease people who are angry at the world for making people on the other side. They're a waste of money, they're disruptive to wildlife, and they don't work. Most of the appeal stems from xenophobia and the rest from politics, and much of the time those two things are firmly entwined.
2
Perhaps the US-Mexico border could follow the example set by the no-man's land between the two Koreas where, thanks to the absence of Homo sapiens, a reintroduced wilderness now thrives.
4
A $58 billion 700 mile long wall is not going to come down anytime soon. It is the result of a wrongly fought War on Drugs, which costs us an additional $65 billion a year. As an experienced activist I refuse to tilt at this particular windmill. Sorry about the Jaguars, but let's be realistic. It's not about the poor jaguars, it is about the misappropriation of our tax dollars and the abuse of public will. 122 nations signed onto the War of Drugs. Congress and a few presidents have accepted it as a treaty. We cannot change anything until we suspend that treaty and declare an end of hostilities.
A 700 mile long cash cow and international trade treaties like NAFTA not only codify our war of drugs, but have merged to become a tax dependent industry unto itself. Jaguars and mother nature never entered the equation.
Our immigration policy is run by the prison industrial complex on K-Street, which is another $60 billion a year boondoggle. It all looks and smells like money is finally speaking freely and abusively. Are we all Jaguars no matter what side of the fence we are on?
A 700 mile long cash cow and international trade treaties like NAFTA not only codify our war of drugs, but have merged to become a tax dependent industry unto itself. Jaguars and mother nature never entered the equation.
Our immigration policy is run by the prison industrial complex on K-Street, which is another $60 billion a year boondoggle. It all looks and smells like money is finally speaking freely and abusively. Are we all Jaguars no matter what side of the fence we are on?
4
Best non-Onion Onion article this week.
1
Since it is very difficult if not impossible to "fortify" our borders the only other option is to take away the reasons for coming illegally. Remove the law that gives citizenship through birth in the United States when both parents are illegals. Remove the ability to work in the United States without passing an e-verify check. Fine employers of illegal aliens. Illegal aliens here cannot receive benefits derived from tax payer money. The USDOJ should sue any sanctuary city, town, county or state since they are aiding, abetting and harboring people violating the law.
7
The border fence, in whatever forms it takes, is an abomination to the landscape of the southwestern U.S., a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars in its failure to perform as intended and advertised, a boondoggle of the first order: the boon going to the contractors erecting it, the rest of us being the dogglees.
It has failed spectacularly as a drug barrier, and with the advent of legalized marijuana in this country one might credibly wonder if the flow might not reverse direction. In the case of impeding human and animal movement, the former has many more options than the latter to circumvent the obstructions in the desert wilderness.
All actions have unintended consequences. It would be educating to ask the ghosts of those indigenous peoples of this land who aided the first white men landing on this continent if, given a second chance, they might react a bit differently.
It is safe to say that had the indigenous Americans successfully fended off the Caucasian "illegal immigrants" of their day and all the days since, the biodiversity of wildlife and plant life here would be vastly more varied, and healthier, than it is today.
It has failed spectacularly as a drug barrier, and with the advent of legalized marijuana in this country one might credibly wonder if the flow might not reverse direction. In the case of impeding human and animal movement, the former has many more options than the latter to circumvent the obstructions in the desert wilderness.
All actions have unintended consequences. It would be educating to ask the ghosts of those indigenous peoples of this land who aided the first white men landing on this continent if, given a second chance, they might react a bit differently.
It is safe to say that had the indigenous Americans successfully fended off the Caucasian "illegal immigrants" of their day and all the days since, the biodiversity of wildlife and plant life here would be vastly more varied, and healthier, than it is today.
9
I am an endangered species biologist specializing in wildcats, yet it is obvious to me that this is another example of legitimate science being spun by the mass immigration crusading editors of the NY Times - to further destroy public support for enforcement of US immigration law, and allow our 1% to further degrade the environment for the profit who say that "equality" demands that the US should have as many people per square mile as China or India. Then to put in perspective what is at stake, the habitat in the border states & in the rest of the USA that has to be destroyed to support the few hundred thousand that illegally immigrate across that border EVERY YEAR destroy-denies wildlife use of more habitat than the whole 1500 mile long narrow border fence does. What we actually need and the author avoided mentioning, or was edited out by the paper is that the way to provide security on the border is through effective "interior enforcement" that would make illegally crossing the border a waste of time, money & effort. Then the selected title of the piece "don't fence the jaguar out" was obviously calculated to suggest to the casual reader that we can't in fact stop illegals and provide for wildlife transit as well. While as the author suggests late in the article, where most would not read it, that small openings in a barrier can allow for passage of species like jaguars and wolves and these can be remotely monitored in order to prevent illegals from exploiting them.
7
Now if we can just ban the sale of ladders and shovels, we might have this border control problem problem solved
9
Well, having a lot of jaguars, wolves, ocelots, etc might just make a great border fencing solution not that high population density works with these carnivores that range widely. I suppose all the guns would undo this option fairly fast. What strange times.
Perhaps a National ID card for every citizen, some other form of ID for legal aliens, visa, etc. Illegal?; no ID. Make it so employers cannot hire anyone without a National ID card. Probably too simple of an idea for Congress to comprehend.
The idea of a 2000 mile long fence is just ludicrous.
The idea of a 2000 mile long fence is just ludicrous.
4
Truthfully the fence is designed to keep out or in ONLY animals.
I ask you if there was a lonely chain-link fence in the middle of nowhere would any of our readers have trouble going through, over, or under it if we really had to? No way!
The fence is mostly an unfriendly gesture, a symbol of defiance, and a downright nuisance.
I will refer you folks to a Cantinflas flick in which our affable hero approaches the border on a donkey. His "transactions" with officials amount to a reductionist epitome of where we are at on the border today.
If the donkey could have talked, there would have been no opposition.
But he couldn't.
I ask you if there was a lonely chain-link fence in the middle of nowhere would any of our readers have trouble going through, over, or under it if we really had to? No way!
The fence is mostly an unfriendly gesture, a symbol of defiance, and a downright nuisance.
I will refer you folks to a Cantinflas flick in which our affable hero approaches the border on a donkey. His "transactions" with officials amount to a reductionist epitome of where we are at on the border today.
If the donkey could have talked, there would have been no opposition.
But he couldn't.
5
A border fence to stop human traffic is just plain dumb. Not just because of the expense to build and maintain, but because it only takes a ladder to go over the top or a shovel to go underneath. Moreover 600,000 people cross the southern border every day through legal check points, anyone of those people could just keep walking if the wanted to. The only intelligent way to stop illegal human traffic is to require bio-verifiable documentation to work.
7
In March of 2009, Macho B, the last wild jaguar in the United States was accidentally caught in a research snare used to capture mountain lions in southern Arizona. He was released, checked out and fitted with a tracking collar. About 2 weeks later wildlife officials determined something was wrong with the animal because it was moving slowly and losing weight.
Macho B was captured and brought to the Phoenix Zoo where he was euthanized that very day. The outrage was palpable. The Zoo put out a statement that Macho had chronic liver disease but scientists at the U of A vehemently disputed that claim.
The last wild jaguar in the US, and it wasn't a drunken hunter who got him, it was medical science.
Macho B was captured and brought to the Phoenix Zoo where he was euthanized that very day. The outrage was palpable. The Zoo put out a statement that Macho had chronic liver disease but scientists at the U of A vehemently disputed that claim.
The last wild jaguar in the US, and it wasn't a drunken hunter who got him, it was medical science.
4
You have got to be kidding - fences that let through animals, but stop people...
Why not bullets that kill people but not animals, for law enforcement - in case the shot is wide...
Why not bullets that kill people but not animals, for law enforcement - in case the shot is wide...
2
How quickly we forget the famous ineffective walls of history. But conservatives who are pushing The Fence idea should keep in mind one--The Berlin Wall. Is that the model we would like to emulate? I don't want a wall to represent my country, whether it's keeping people in or shutting them out. It's a crazy and horrific idea on a human scale and now as Jon Beckmann points out from a wildlife perspective as well. I'd ask the proponents whether their next suggestion would be to tear down the Statue of Liberty as well--too welcoming. These are people who like to claim exclusive rights to being patriots but to me the Fence idea is just un-American.
12
It strikes me that humans would be capable of tunneling under , climbing over or going around a fence. The fence keeps wildlife out. The question is does it even do the job it is intended to do? Or does it just hurt wildlife without actually keeping humans out?
16
I have always questioned the wisdom of the expense of such a long fence when there is a simple method to circumvent it at any unmonitored stretch (a tunnel).
5
So, We will spend more $ to allow animals in but not people? Next we will be hearing about the snail darters? This would add un-necessary complication to an already complex situation.
1
Sometimes the Weldlife Conservation Society can get carried away. I remember that a few years ago a sign in a local [Paramus, NJ] Petco there was a notice posted on their bulletin board from this society for us to protect our NJ coyotes. Huh?? Coyotes, the ultimate survivors who have not been eliminated from any of their native range in the hundreds of years we've been trying to and most likely the thousands that the indians had been working on it too. Better we would start a campaign to protect our small children and pets that roam our back yards from the coyotes who are, among other things, very capable fence climbers.
1
Stop please. The magnificent jaguar doesn't live in Arizona anymore. There's an occasional stray that wanders across the border from time to time. They are not coming back and we would do well to concentrate on saving the population that is still viable in Mexico, South and Central America. Ocelots are almost as rare.
4
I'm a borderlands photographer living here 10 years, and in just that brief instant I've witnessed heart-wrenching degradation to a remote, rural border, precious and charming in its pristine state. Until just now, it lay basically unchanged throughout 500 years of travel by Europeans and thousands of years of migration by indigenous people, not to mention wildlife.
Conservatives' fear-mongering and the lingering tragic impacts of a failed "war on drugs" pose enormous risks to this region, and to both countries.
http://tubacvillager.com/blog/blog/author/murray/
Conservatives' fear-mongering and the lingering tragic impacts of a failed "war on drugs" pose enormous risks to this region, and to both countries.
http://tubacvillager.com/blog/blog/author/murray/
35
China. Wall. Did not work either.
[ insert quote about ignoring history ]
Fools.
[ insert quote about ignoring history ]
Fools.
13
We need to keep the fence until we can lock down this country, prevent the arrival of illegals, immediately deport them back to their country of origin or fine and incarcerate employers who hire without documentation.
We will NOT HAVE an ecosystem to worry about if illegals continue to flood into this country in numbers we can't even accurately count. They will consume our resources and contribute to our growing numbers.
Fast-forward 50 to 100 years when sea levels are projected to rise and much of our populated coastal areas will disappear. What kind of overpopulated country will we leave our kids? It is nothing short of an invasion.
I love the outdoors and wild animals. I encourage the legal immigration of those who qualify. Something there is that doesn't love a wall, sure. But we must get a handle on illegal immigration before we reach that tipping point when we can no longer control the situation.
Now is a good time.
Chevy
South Hadley, MA
We will NOT HAVE an ecosystem to worry about if illegals continue to flood into this country in numbers we can't even accurately count. They will consume our resources and contribute to our growing numbers.
Fast-forward 50 to 100 years when sea levels are projected to rise and much of our populated coastal areas will disappear. What kind of overpopulated country will we leave our kids? It is nothing short of an invasion.
I love the outdoors and wild animals. I encourage the legal immigration of those who qualify. Something there is that doesn't love a wall, sure. But we must get a handle on illegal immigration before we reach that tipping point when we can no longer control the situation.
Now is a good time.
Chevy
South Hadley, MA
2
Would think the fact that federal funds are paying for these fences, National Environmental Protection Act regulations would apply and these issues would be addressed prior to construction. Although I'm guessing some overrides of environmental protection laws were put in place to expedite the thoughtless, quick fix, immigration policy of constructing fences. Keep up the good work Jon, along with your colleagues.
12
When we first started building 20' fences there was a cartoon somwhere showing a shed south of the fence with a sign saying "23 foot ladders".
10
Talking about more secure borders is a way for Republicans to skirt the issue of real immigration reform.
22
"We were looking for bears; they were searching for narcotics."
Bears do drugs too? I don't think I knew that. How long has this outrage been going on? I suppose judges are letting them off with a slap on the paw.
Bears do drugs too? I don't think I knew that. How long has this outrage been going on? I suppose judges are letting them off with a slap on the paw.
11
"Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.
" – Albert Schweitzer
18
Thanks, Zeya, for passing along this excellent quotation, from one of the most enlightened and loving people who ever lived. It ought to be our guide for all our dealings with animals, ever warning us that our own true well-being is at stake in every one of those exchanges. Plants, fungi, etc. also have their place as deserving recipients of our compassion, it's true. But it's especially the sentient animals who have by far the highest claim to moral regard from us, and have suffered by far the worst injustices at our hands.
2
As soon as you find a sentient, non-human animal with moral regard for us, I will buy into the argument that we need to have moral regard for them. Actually, I do believe we have a moral responsibility to conserve the populations of all native animals. But individuals are not populations; they do not endure. It is OK to love animals in the abstract, but WE are animals, we evolved as predators, and killing animals, sustainably, for their food and fur, is as naturally moral as a lion kiling an antelope. What we cannot morally allow is the continuing unsustainable growth of our population, which is rapidly resulting in the mass extinction of many species, and ultimately, the destruction of the natural systems that sustain all of us.
1
Great. Dress up as a bear, and you can walk right into the USA.
4
A border fence is a really stupid idea.
24
I'm not hearing a good solution here, maybe there are none. But a fence like they had on D-Day to stop vehicles is no solution at all. Illegal immigration is happening mostly on foot (or boat, depending on where in the country you are).
Our main problem with illegal immigration is that the countries south of the border like it. They want illegal immigration as it means money in their pockets. Not just serving the cartels with their exorbitant charges to 'mule' immigrants over the border, but it serves the governments as well. They collect a percentage of all the money sent back to families that remain.
Illegal immigration is big business and until someone in DC decides to shut that business down, it will only grow.
I want to see animals roaming free, but have no desire to support open borders. While the fences don't stop all illegal immigration, I can't help but think they thwart some. Perhaps we can replace fences with something higher tech? Until then, I can't support tearing them down.
Our main problem with illegal immigration is that the countries south of the border like it. They want illegal immigration as it means money in their pockets. Not just serving the cartels with their exorbitant charges to 'mule' immigrants over the border, but it serves the governments as well. They collect a percentage of all the money sent back to families that remain.
Illegal immigration is big business and until someone in DC decides to shut that business down, it will only grow.
I want to see animals roaming free, but have no desire to support open borders. While the fences don't stop all illegal immigration, I can't help but think they thwart some. Perhaps we can replace fences with something higher tech? Until then, I can't support tearing them down.
5
Not to worry, jaguars are hardly fenced out. On the contrary, I've seen plenty of them roaming all over this country, especially in affluent suburbs. Including the one with a bumper sticker reading 'But when it runs, ahhhh.....'
4
We get one idea that works, however imperfectly. Next thing, we weaken it with exception after exception.
6
I am against illegal immigration, but this article highlights why I am against a complete fence; it blocks out critical wildlife, while leaving room for humans to simply jump over it. The beauty and value in wilderness far outweighs the minuscule road bump the fence provides to illegal immigrants. In the words of my former University's Ecology & Evolution Professor, "Is it too much to ask to have complete ecosystem?"
37
It is nice to see a New York Times post on environmental and animal issues written by an authoritative source. This is what real science looks like. I hope it is the beginning of a trend
53
"When will they learn? When will they ever learn?"
9
Thank you for this reminder that border fencing doesn't only affect humans. I'm glad the news isn't all bad and that there are people looking out for jaguars, bears, ocelots, et al.
36
Consider the millions of dollars spent on this fence boondoggle, which can be defeated with a shovel or a ladder.
35
Borders are some thing humans do to keep inequality in the universe. Nature does not. Bordering of any kind is as unnatural as having a lion eat spinach or a goat eat tofu burger.
Humans throughout history of mankind have been guilty of such deeds. Soon they learn and try to reverse the process. Let us hope that because of people like Jon Beckmann our politicians would heed and do the right thing (Although I doubt it)
Humans throughout history of mankind have been guilty of such deeds. Soon they learn and try to reverse the process. Let us hope that because of people like Jon Beckmann our politicians would heed and do the right thing (Although I doubt it)
28
"Bordering of any kind is as unnatural as having a lion eat spinach or a goat eat tofu burger."
Oh is it now. Wild animals of all kinds -wolves, and yes lions - stake out territories. They don't know how to build fences but they have virtual ones that keep out other groups of their own kind.
Oh is it now. Wild animals of all kinds -wolves, and yes lions - stake out territories. They don't know how to build fences but they have virtual ones that keep out other groups of their own kind.
5
Dave
You have answered your own statement Yes it is an animalistic instinct, do we really need to be at the levels of Lions and Wolves and construct artificial boundaries?
The British did it to rule the world and them along with French and Spanish when departed from the colonized land divided people on one pretext or other into different countries, whether we look at Kurds (Turkish, Iraqis, and Iranian), the Baluch people in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Punjabis in India and Pakistan, Bengalis in India and Bangladesh etc.
You have answered your own statement Yes it is an animalistic instinct, do we really need to be at the levels of Lions and Wolves and construct artificial boundaries?
The British did it to rule the world and them along with French and Spanish when departed from the colonized land divided people on one pretext or other into different countries, whether we look at Kurds (Turkish, Iraqis, and Iranian), the Baluch people in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Punjabis in India and Pakistan, Bengalis in India and Bangladesh etc.
1
If the Mexican government and all its corrupt affiliates controlled their country's border properly and did not use illegal immigration as a safety valve to get rid of the poor Mexicans the issue would not exist. In addition, as far as the drugs go, just make drugs free here and take the incentive out of the smuggling. Users will use drugs no matter and we still haven't learned prohibition only makes the prohibited more enticing, just ask Alfanzo, Bugsy and that whole group up in Chicago. Take away the economic incentive and we will save lives, money and free up the courts and cops to fight real crime.
22
And the drugs will be a lot cheaper and the emergency rooms fuller.
1
The problem right now is not Mexican immigration, but Central Americans farther south whose existence in their violence-filled countries is untenable.
1
Thank you for the reminder that our troubles and actions have consequences reaching far beyond our own kind.
50
Hate to inform the author that humans are wildlife too. Most of the migrants are moving to find food and safety, much like the jaguar.
So, jaguars and others should be allowed to transit, but a mother or daughter who have been raped in Guatemala, or a teen who is being pressed into a gang in Honduras, should be fenced in.
I kind of understand the logic, but just cannot get all the pieces to fit together.
So, jaguars and others should be allowed to transit, but a mother or daughter who have been raped in Guatemala, or a teen who is being pressed into a gang in Honduras, should be fenced in.
I kind of understand the logic, but just cannot get all the pieces to fit together.
28
You're referring to people as "wildlife"?
Jethro--In the sense that humans are part of the ecosystem, they are wildlife too. They must always be accounted for as life that matters.
8
Border walls don't stop people, but they do stop wildlife. They waste taxpayer money, destroy critical habitat and wildlife migrations. Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security have said they don't want or need more border wall, and it won't make the border more secure. But this is politics-so what makes sense for taxpayers, for border residents and certainly for wildlife hasn't mattered.
72
The notion that a border fence can stop illegal immigration has always been an illusion. For starters, nearly 50 percent of illegal immigrants enter the country legally and overstay their visas. In most places, especially along the Rio Grande, the fence is set back from the actual border. Only Mexicans can be immediately turned back into Mexico. This permits illegal immigrants from Central America to wade the river and surrender to Border Patrol agents when they reach the U.S. side. After a few days in detention, most are released and given notifications to appear at future immigration hearings. Only a tiny percent bother to show up for the or hearings and no one looks for them when they fail to appear. We should tear down the fence and, instead, enact Congressional legislation that enables state and local jurisdictions to help enforce federal immigration laws.
31
Exactly why that bad SB744 deserved to fail. We need proper visa tracking and enforcement.
1
But it's not true that only a tiny percentage shows up for the hearings. I've seen reports of numbers in the 90+% range, especially children and families.
2
According to the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security reported in September that 70% of illegal border crossers who traveled to America as a family unit have failed to show up to their immigration hearings. The no-show rate is much higher for other illegal immigrants. If immigrations courts begin deport a significant number of families who do show up for the hearings, the no show rate will soar to nearly 100 percent.
5
As former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano said "Show me a fifty foot fence and I will show you a fifty-one foot ladder".
Ever if the land border with Mexico were hermetically sealed there is the question of how does one fence the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico.
From yesterdays Miami Herald:
"Migrants Arrive",
"Onlookers keep an eye on a 24-foot boat Monday after a woman and eight men landed at 24th Street and Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. There were five people from India, two from Jamaica, one from the Bahamas and one from Haiti, said Frank Miller, Border Patrol spokesman".
Ever if the land border with Mexico were hermetically sealed there is the question of how does one fence the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico.
From yesterdays Miami Herald:
"Migrants Arrive",
"Onlookers keep an eye on a 24-foot boat Monday after a woman and eight men landed at 24th Street and Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. There were five people from India, two from Jamaica, one from the Bahamas and one from Haiti, said Frank Miller, Border Patrol spokesman".
51