Celebrate Giving Tuesday and help us unlock matching gift funds! Give Now

En Español

LCV Statement on Border Wall Exemption: Xenophobia Trumps Conservation

Aug 1, 2017

Alyssa Roberts, alyssa_roberts@lcv.org, 202-454-4573 | Betsy Lopez-Wagner, blopez-wagner@lcv.org, 708-717-9408

Washington, D.C. – Following the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement today that the agency will waive several environmental laws to begin the first phase of the Trump administration’s border wall, League of Conservation Voters Vice President of Government Affairs Sara Chieffo released the following statement:

“If the Trump administration can’t reconcile their xenophobic border wall with dozens of environmental safeguards meant to protect our communities, that’s yet another reason Congress should deny funding and prevent construction from going forward. Laws like the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, and the Clean Water Act keep our families healthy. But driven by an anti-immigrant agenda, the Trump administration is callously putting construction of an environmentally and culturally destructive wall above water resources for communities on both sides of the border, federally protected lands, clean air, and the lives of hundreds of endangered species – all while turning a blind eye to the vital relationships of cross-border communities and our longstanding values as a nation.”

LCV has been a firm opponent of the Trump administration’s border wall, and led a coalition of environmental groups last week urging the U.S. House of Representatives to reject funding for the hateful plan.