Not "A Nation of Immigrants": Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion

by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

The border has long been a nightmare for people, both migrants and Indigenous residents, but the walls and barriers that have been constructed and proposed also cut through one of the most diverse and biologically rich regions of North America. The border region is home to species whose survival depends on an ecosystem stretching from well into the United States to México, with more than fifteen hundred plants and animal species, ninety-three of them listed by the International Union for Conservation and Nature as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. The wall affects not only habitats but also the flow of food, protection, and even mating partners. An extended network of national parks, archaeological monuments, and wilderness and nature reserves straddles the border, protecting wildlife habitat and cultural resources on both sides. The US Fish and Wildlife Service warned that an impermeable barrier and bright light at night will destroy many endangered species.