1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Pull the funding for the second border wall at Quitobaquito Springs and restore the environmental and cultural protections DHS has waived to build it. Sundt Construction has already been awarded the contract, and if this project moves forward, it will destroy the only wild habitat on Earth for the Sonoyta pupfish and Quitobaquito springsnails, wipe out a mesquite grove that is federally recognized critical habitat for the Sonoyta mud turtle, and likely demolish an O'odham cemetery with more than 40 gravesites. Contractors already bulldozed a 1,000-year-old sacred earthwork in April. This is not hypothetical damage — it is happening now. The 2005 Real ID Act lets DHS waive the Endangered Species Act, NEPA, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act with zero public review. Congress handed over that authority and Congress can claw it back. The first wall in 2020 cracked the spring's lining and dropped water flow to an all-time low. A second wall 90 to 150 feet north will finish the job. Passive surveillance technology would do more to detect crossings in this remote stretch than a steel bollard wall — at a fraction of the cost and none of the destruction. Reinstate the legal protections, rescind the funding, and stop this construction now.