House Republicans Demand Answers on Environmental Impact of Border Crisis
Preston Huennekens
FAIR Take | March 2021
In light of the growing crisis on the southern border, Republican Reps. Paul Gosar (AZ-04) and Bruce Westerman (AR-04) sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, asking him to provide information on the environmental impact of rampant illegal immigration into the United States.
The negative impact of illegal immigration on the environment is well-documented and well-known. In fact, many of the United States’ most famous environmental advocacy groups used to vehemently oppose illegal immigration because of its detrimental impact on the country. Notably, the Sierra Club opposed increasing all levels of immigration to the United States from its founding until 1996, when the organization’s board voted to take a neutral stance on immigration, bowing to liberal activists who supported the bulk of the Club’s work. Since 2013, the Sierra Club’s position on immigration is indistinguishable from that of the open-borders lobbying groups such as America’s Voice.
Illegal immigration impacts our nation’s environmental resources in two major ways. The first, and perhaps most obvious way, is the degradation that occurs through the physical act of migrating itself (e.g., border trash, smuggling trails destroying fauna, etc.). This is what Reps. Gosar and Westerman address in their letter, writing:
https://www.fairus.org/legislation/federal-legislation/population-environment/house-republicans-demand-answers
