70 Mile Border Wall: Bad for Environment!

This Brownsville Herald photo shows a palm in the Sabal Palm Audubon Center and Sanctuary (from Audubon Texas):

This 557-acre sanctuary lies approximately ten miles south of Brownsville, along the southern most bend of the Rio Grande. The sanctuary contains the largest remaining tract of Sabal Palm forest that once blanketed the Rio Grande Delta. Two hundred and eighty-nine species of birds have been recorded at the site, and diversity of species using the area is high in all seasons of the year.

Sabal Palm is one of six breeding area for the highly threatened Brownsville Common Yellowthroat. The sanctuary provides stop-over habitat for a variety of circum-gulf neotropical-nearctic migratory songbirds including Bell’s Vireo, Golden-winged Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, Painted Bunting and Dickcissel.

And according to the Brownsville Herald, as much as 75% of the protected lands in the Rio Grande could see a direct impact from the wall. Migratory birds flight patterns would be disrupted, and animals access to the water could be impeded.

“The fence is going to be bad for the refuge and for wildlife,” said Jim Chapman, president of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Group of the Sierra Club. “Our biggest concern is that it’s a barrier to animals, keeping them from crossing to the river. It’s likely to impact endangered and non-endangered species.”

The US Customs and Border Control is seeking public comments for the assessment until Oct. 15. Comments can be submitted by mail, e-mail, fax or on the Web until that date.

(a) Electronically through the website at: www.BorderFenceNEPA.com;
(b) By email to: RGVcomments@BorderFenceNEPA.com;
(c) By mail to: Rio Grande Valley Tactical Infrastructure EIS, c/o e²M, 2751 Prosperity Avenue, Suite 200, Fairfax, Virginia 22031; or
(d) By fax to: (757) 282-7697.

Will Latino Evangelicals Stick With The GOP?

A new report from the Dallas Morning News says that the anti-immigration rhetoric from the right side of the isle may cause Latino evangelicals to sit out next year's election, or even go democratic. We've already explored Latino Republicans crossing the party line to support Rick Noriega, but Latino evangelical Protestants voted nearly 7-to-3 in favor of President Bush in 2004.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez leads the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, a sister organization to the National Association of Evangelicals. He and other Hispanic pastors have been working to pass an immigration bill that secures the borders, creates a guest worker program, and provides a path towards citizenship after paying a fine and proving that they've learned English.

The Bill collapsed, largely due to GOP conservatives like John Cornyn who voted against the immigration acts this that would have provided for a guest worker program, but voting twice in favor of a border fence, and for declaring English as the official national language.

"We were divided on global warming, but not on immigration," says Rodriguez. He thinks Latino evangelicals will likely stay home instead of voting Republican, and Presidential GOP candidates better listen up or risk separating a key component of their voting constituency.

William McKenzie, Dallas Morning News:

The same thing appears true for Republicans like Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who's up for re-election. Based on what I'm hearing, Latino evangelicals will sit out next year's election or go Democratic.

"Xenophobia has triumphed over an appreciation for diversity. They completely abandoned us," says Rodriguez about Republicans with a stance against immigration like Cornyn.

Democratic challenger Rick Noriega calls John Cornyn out on his waffling about the wall: "as he moves to East Texas, he's for the wall, but as he moves to South Texas, he's against the wall...This wall will not work, yet he [Sen. Cornyn] has voted for the wall on two occasions, and he needs to be held accountable for that."