STARR COUNTY, Texas— The Trump administration today waived 31 environmental and public health laws to speed border wall construction through the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

The waivers clear the way for walls across 13 refuge tracts, slicing through wildlife corridors, endangered species habitat and communities.

“Trump is inventing a fake emergency to bulldoze and wall off some of the best remaining habitat for wildlife in South Texas,” said Laiken Jordahl at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Border crossings have plunged more than 90% over the last year but the administration is hell-bent on torching our nation’s most important environmental protections to build more destructive walls. This isn’t border security, it’s a reckless attack on South Texas’ culture, communities and irreplaceable wildlife.”

U.S. Border Patrol apprehended just 6,072 people nationwide in June 2025 — a more than 90% drop from the 87,606 apprehensions in June 2024. In the Rio Grande Valley, apprehensions fell to roughly 50 per day this year from more than 1,500 per day in December 2023.

The Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge harbors some of the country’s rarest species. New wall segments threaten endangered ocelots, aplomado falcons and hundreds of migratory birds such as green jays, Altamira orioles and plain chachalacas. Endangered plants like the Zapata bladderpod, Walker’s manioc and Texas ayenia are also at risk. These walls will fragment critical habitat, sever wildlife corridors and disrupt the Rio Grande’s natural flow.

“There’s a special cruelty in walling off national wildlife refuges that were created for conservation,” said Jordahl. “These lands exist to protect endangered species and connect fragmented habitat, not to be bulldozed for Trump’s wall.”

Beyond jeopardizing wildlife, endangered species and public lands, the U.S.-Mexico border wall is part of a larger strategy of ongoing border militarization that damages human rights, civil liberties, native lands, local businesses and international relations. The border wall impedes the natural migrations of people and wildlife that are essential to healthy diversity.

Today’s action seeks to waive the following laws:

1. National Environmental Policy Act
2. Endangered Species Act
3. Clean Water Act
4. Clean Air Act
5. Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
6. Safe Drinking Water Act
7. National Historic Preservation Act
8. Migratory Bird Treaty Act
9. Migratory Bird Conservation Act
10. Archaeological Resources Protection Act
11. Paleontological Resources Preservation Act
12. Federal Cave Resources Protection Act
13. National Trails System Act
14. Noise Control Act
15. Solid Waste Disposal Act
16. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
17. Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act
18. Antiquities Act
19. Historic Sites, Buildings, and Antiquities Act
20. Eagle Protection Act
21. Administrative Procedure Act
22. Section 438 of Energy Independence and Security Act
23. National Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956
24. Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
25. Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
26. Farmland Protection Policy Act
27. National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act
28. National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997
29. Wild Horse and Burro Act
30. Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
31. Coastal Zone Management Act