U.S. threatens to bulldoze National Butterfly Center to build Trump's border wall

by Marissa Higgins

Daily Kos Staff

Monday, Dec. 10, 2018 Monday, Dec. 10, 2018 at 10:05:58am PST

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump speaks during an inspection of border wall prototypes in San Diego, California on March 13, 2018..Donald Trump -- making his first trip to California as president -- warned there would be 'bedlam' without the controversial wall he wants to build on the border with Mexico, as he inspected several prototype barriers. The trip to the 'Golden State' -- the most populous in the country and a Democratic stronghold -- was largely upstaged by his own announcement that he had sacked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The National Butterfly Center, located in Mission, Texas, is a private nonprofit focused on providing a safe habitat for wildlife, including wild butterflies and birds. It has about 100 acres of land. The land is becoming a big, big topic of conversation right now, because President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall would put about 70 percent of it on Mexico’s side of the wall.

Even more alarming? The Supreme Court has refused to hear the center’s case challenging his plan. This upheld a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel from back in February, which also ruled in favor of the government.

“Just like farmers get crop yield in acres and inches, we get butterflies based on what we have planted in acres and inches,” executive director Marianna Trevino-Wright told the San Antonio Express-News. “So having a wide swath of our property bulldozed is going to negatively impact the volume of the species and diversity of the species.” A number of laws were waived to move this plan forward, including the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Border patrol cars and land surveyors are already on the Butterfly Center’s property. Though Customs and Border Protection apparently denies they will clear the land entirely, any loss of land is considered to be significant.

How can the government take over this private land? Thanks to a process known as eminent domain, it’s pretty easy. In simple terms, eminent domain allows the government to take over private property and put it into public use. The government is supposed to offer reasonable compensation to whoever owns the property.

The Butterfly Center is suing. In July 2017, before funding (which included $1.6 billion for 100 miles of new and replacement fencing) was approved, contract workers showed up on its property unannounced. The suit alleges that they started removing protected habitat in the area in which the border wall would be built. This matters because, as the center claims, workers did not have the legal right to access its grounds at that time.

The suit is ongoing.