Some 2,000 stadium lights have been installed along the US-Mexican border in an effort to stamp out illegal immigration. These bright lights may light up a football stadium, but the boarder is an ecologically sensitive zone with many species inhabiting it. Turning on those lights will have costly and even deadly effects on endangered species according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The group documented placement of floodlights in some of the most iconic ecosystems in the Southwest: Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, and the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge. [see map]. Customs and Boarder Protection has already blown apart national monuments and desecrated Native American heritage sites to make way for the ridiculous boarder wall.
agency's statements, they are looking at ways to minimize the need for lighting. For now they are off. The desert night sky is a wonder in itself, and would be obliterated by the high intensity illumination, One camera alone documented 1100 instances of wildlife crossing the San Pedro River corridor in a three year period. The visitors included badgers, bobcats, javelina, pumas, raccoons, skunk and deer. Sixteen endangered species would be adversely impacted. The borderlands are also home to a myriad of insect species including bees in the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge. Insects are the primary food for the lesser long-nosed bat living in Organ Pipe and Cabeza Prieta. Losing smaller prey species will have a cascading effect on larger mammals such as jaguars who make occasional forays across the border from Mexico. Artificial lighting makes demonstrated changes in prey species behavior.
Lighting up the boarder might please MAGAists, who are obsessed with immigrants invading their space, but it would add ecological insult to injury already done by the wall of shame.