In South Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are beginning work on The Wall. Workers reportedly began preparing the ground several weeks ago at the National Butterfly Center and Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge. The former is privately owned, and the latter is federal property.
Employees at both locations are up in arms for several reasons.
First, because their beloved critters are going to be second-class residents at these properties. The needs of human beings will trump those of the butterflies, ocelots, and other creatures. To environmentalists, that’s inherently evil.
Second, they hate the fact that an evil white racist like President Donald Trump would put the needs of evil white Americans ahead of the angelic, innocent desires of vibrant, fertile Mexicans.
Third, they hate the fact that all of this is happening literally in their own backyards. It’s a massive right-wing troll of a supremely sanctimonious segment of the Left.
Last, officials at the National Butterfly Center are upset because their private property rights will have to give way to the power of the federal government to protect the border.
Ordinarily I’d side with private property owners against the Swamp, but in this case the feds are doing what we hired them to do. Protecting our borders is one of the very few, constitutionally-mandated jobs of the federal government. If the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies can keep foreigners from illegally entering our nation by violating our borders, all of us Americans stand to benefit. It’s a mission that we can stand behind with good consciences. Sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. In cases like this, as long as the private property owners are reasonably compensated for their losses, it makes sense to move forward with the government’s work.
We should support the Trump Administration’s efforts to make the federal government fulfill its constitutionally-enumerated duties such as defending our borders. As a lover of the wildlife and natural beauty that is native to America, there are few things that I’d say trump our need to protect such creatures. However, the needs of human beings — particularly our fellow citizens — can and must trump the needs of the butterflies.
Can we find alternatives that will protect our native wildlife? I hope so. I’m sure that if they put their heads together, the environmentalists could think of work-arounds and raise the funds to get the job done. It’s a mission that all Americans can agree on. It’s hard to Make America Great Again by stripping away the wildlife that are native to America, after all. What would the journals of Lewis and Clark be if it weren’t for all that beautiful nature they witnessed on their expedition across our nation? Such beauty and life is worth preserving.
The lives and welfare of American people, however, come first. DHS is right to bypass unnecessarily lengthy and litigious environmental regulations when we already know that the needs of the people outweigh the needs of the slithering, fluttering few.
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