Donald Trump border wall damage causes huge settlement win for wildlife

A settlement has ended four lawsuits filed against the Trump administration for damage caused by the border wall, and will boost environmental projects.

Oakland, California - Former President Donald Trump's border wall stopped construction before it was finished - but not before damage was inflicted on the local environment, critics say. Now a legal settlement is a boost for wildlife at the southern border.

Some of the gaps in the border wall built by the Trump Administration between the US and Mexico were recently filled in with shipping containers by the Arizona state government, making it more difficult for immigrants to cross. Border construction has damaged wildlife in the area.
Some of the gaps in the border wall built by the Trump Administration between the US and Mexico were recently filled in with shipping containers by the Arizona state government, making it more difficult for immigrants to cross. Border construction has damaged wildlife in the area.  © JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

The settlement, finalized Monday in federal court for the Northern District of California, ended four lawsuits filed against the Trump administration by a coalition of attorneys general from 18 states.

The lawsuits alleged the Trump administration misappropriated taxpayer funds earmarked for other purposes to pay for the construction of the southern border wall. According to the terms of the settlement, the money will now go to a variety of environmental remediation efforts and a handful of military construction projects.

The settlement sets aside $1.1 million for monitoring endangered species along the border, including ocelots, jaguars, peninsular bighorn sheep, the Sonoran pronghorn, and the Mexican gray wolf.

It also sets forth plans for 20 small wildlife passages and four large wildlife passages to be built along the border barrier system to help protect the endangered species' ecosystem.

Lawsuits against the Trump border wall signal a big win for wildlife reinvestiment

A sign in Spanish reading "protected federal wildlife area" in desert along the border with Mexico and Arizona. Threatened species like the Sonoran pronghorn freely cross the border in protected biospheres, but the construction of the wall will block their movement.
A sign in Spanish reading "protected federal wildlife area" in desert along the border with Mexico and Arizona. Threatened species like the Sonoran pronghorn freely cross the border in protected biospheres, but the construction of the wall will block their movement.  © PEDRO PARDO / AFP

Additionally, it provides $25 million in funding from the Department of Homeland Security for the state of California to purchase a 1,291-acre parcel of land in the southwestern part of San Diego County. The property, dubbed Otay Ranch Village 14, is environmentally sensitive and would be preserved for conservation, according to the agreement.

Finally, the settlement reallocates about $427.3 million toward other military construction projects, including a $13-million military flight simulator at Southern California's Channel Islands Air National Guard Station.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement: "With environmental mitigation projects coming online to protect our sensitive ecosystem along the U.S.-Mexico border and the confirmation of over $427 million in funding restored for military construction projects, today's settlement ushers in a new beginning."

Cover photo: JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

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