April / / 22 / / ISSUE 1

Yuma Times
How Would A Southern Border Wall Affect Our Town and Others
Like Us?
US/Mexican Border outside of Yuma AZ Yuma Arizona

Border Affects
Journey Thomason

Yuma is a city of immigrants, snow birds and military

personnel and their families. With only 3 radio stations in
English, taco stands everywhere and signs leading to
Mexico, it is obvious this is a border town. Yuma was Endangered Species Southern Border
apart of the building of a border fence in 2007 during
Bush’s presidency. When the barriers at the border were Journey Thomason

built it causes mass flooding. Yuma is the sunniest city is Animals such as the black bear are at risk of
More than 1,500 native animal and plant species
the world so when it rains for even 30 minutes the roads becoming extinct and the closest relatives they
would be affected by the wall, including 62 listed
start to flood and places shut down. With these flashfloods have are south of the border. “Genetic research on
as endangered or vulnerable according to an
we don’t think of how this would affect animals. “The black bears has shown populations in southern
article published in BioScience that was signed by
barriers acted as dams during rainy season flash floods, a Arizona are more closely related to bears in
more than 2,900 scientists. ( Schwartz) Species
five-mile-long segment of 15-foot-high wire mesh fence Mexico than those in northern Arizona(Carswell). If
who would be vulnerable to a southern border
trapped debris flowing through a natural wash during a 90- they were to be isolated in a small region this
wall include ocelot, ferruginous pygmy owls, and
minute summer thunderstorm, causing water to pool two- would lead to inbreeding and soon enough local
black bears. Ocelot is an endangered species that
to-seven feet high(Parker 2019)”. When a natural disaster extinction. Animals require to be able to travel
lives at the southern border of the United States.
occurs such as flooding, fires or severe heat waves openly, to locate food, water, and mates. An
Decimated by inbreeding, the spotted wildcat’s
animals move to seek shelter and a source of food and outbreak of fire or disease, humans moving in on
future depends very much on mingling with its
water. The building of Trump’s border wall would leave their habitats or the growing strain of climate
Mexican cousins. (Schwartz). A border wall would
animals no place to escape risking their survival. It is change, can force them to seek new homes.
separate them from breeding and lead this
important to look at alternatives to help keep our city and Certain animals only have certain ecosystems that
endangered species to extinction. The Ocelot
ecosystem stable. suit them and their needs and a border wall could
resides here is Yuma and without them rodent’s
separate them from a large portion of these livable
Fence Types at the Southern Border
and lizard populations will grow and we all know
habitats. Hurting these animals will not just affect
how bad they are already. You would think birds
them but also the environment that surrounds
would just fly over the wall but not the pygmy owl.”
Yuma. So before you support this border wall you
The pygmy owl is not a high flier. In the Sonoran
have to think about how it will affect our river float
Desert in southern Arizona, these owls do not
downs, mountains we hike and the lush green gold
even readily fly over trees. They fly really low with
courses the snowbirds play on retirement. Yuma
an average flight height of 1.4 meters (m) above
might be a border town but it doesn’t mean our
ground( Ogden)”.
ecosystem should suffer in the name of a political
agenda.

PAGE 1