Federal contractors are dynamiting through mountains at Coronado National Memorial in Arizona’s San Rafael Valley to construct 27 miles of border wall, according to video footage released by the Washington Post last week and confirmed by multiple conservation groups.
The construction follows Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to issue a series of legal waivers that bypass more than 40 federal environmental and cultural protection laws, including the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and National Environmental Policy Act.
The work targets one of the most ecologically sensitive areas along the U.S.-Mexico border. Coronado National Memorial contains critical jaguar corridors connecting U.S. and Mexican habitats, and the San Rafael Valley is recognized as one of the most biodiverse regions in southern Arizona.
“We are going to tear this stupid wall down in many places in the future,” said Myles Taphagen, Borderlands Program Coordinator at Wildlands Network, who documented the construction. “The wildlife needs to maintain connectivity with critical habitat on both sides of the border. There is no illegal activity here that requires this kind of wall.”
The construction represents a continuation of border wall projects that began during Trump’s first term and has now expanded under his second administration. From 2017 to 2021, approximately 458 miles of border wall panels were installed, with 62% on federal public lands.
A 2021 Government Accountability Office report found that border wall construction during Trump’s first term damaged the environment, hurt wildlife and destroyed Indigenous sacred sites. The report noted that by waiving environmental laws, agencies only relied on voluntary assessments that were “not as rigorous or comprehensive” as required under normal procedures.
The National Parks Conservation Association and Center for Biological Diversity have filed multiple lawsuits challenging the construction. They argue the 30-foot wall will block wildlife migration routes for endangered species, including Sonoran pronghorn, jaguars, Mexican gray wolves, and desert tortoises.
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At nearby Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, previous construction crews bulldozed century-old saguaro cacti and cleared land directly above Native American graves, according to the Tohono O’odham Nation. The tribe has protested that the wall blocks a traditional pilgrimage route to the Sea of Cortez.
Conservation groups note that Border Patrol and Park Service rangers have already achieved operational control in many areas where wall construction is occurring. Border crossings in remote desert areas have steadily decreased over recent decades, they say, raising questions about the necessity of the expensive construction.
The wall costs approximately $10 million per mile. Environmental advocates argue that most illegal drugs enter through official ports of entry in border towns rather than across remote desert terrain.
“This expensive and unneeded new wall is destroying the very things our national parks were created to preserve and protect,” said Laiken Jordahl, a borderlands campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity, who has documented the construction over the past year.
