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New Report Claims Border Wall Would Be Devastating For Environment, Communities

Chants of "build the wall" were a common occurrence on President Trump’s campaign trail and his efforts to find the $5 million in federal funding to complete the project will likely be front and center when funding debates kick off this fall.

But, a new report from the ACLU’s Border Rights Center, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club highlights what they call the "real impact of the proposed wall," from environmental devastation to its inability to stop human or drug trafficking.

The report urges Congress not to waste more taxpayer money on something they say is harmful. The report also outlines the devastating environmental effects they say will come with building more physical barriers on the border.

Astrid Dominguez, the director of the ACLU Border Rights Center, said border crossings are at a near-historic low. And border walls do not address the new wave of immigrants we’re seeing arrive.

“We see the wall as something that’s gonna stop people from coming," she said. "And that hasn’t been the case in the past decade, when walls have already been in place.”

The report also outlines the devastating environmental effects they say will come with building more physical barriers on the border. On top of that, Dominguez says the portions of the border wall that have already been built have an effect on the border communities that they divide. But, she says despite the militarization they’ve experienced they are not what you think.

“Border communities are among the safest in our country," she said. "It’s not like what they often talk about, where it’s like this war zone. we’re not.”

Theresa Cardinal Brown is the Bipartisan Policy Center's director of immigration and cross-border policy.

She has served as a policy advisor for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and was also director of the Immigration Legislation Task Force in the Department of Homeland Security.

She says this new wave of immigrants is one reason we need to think of border security in a more holistic way — looking at everything from physical barriers in some areas, to what’s driving immigration and how our immigration courts function.

Both Brown and Dominguez joined The Show to discuss this issue.

Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.