Desert Invasion - U.S.
Articles on the destruction of border National Parks, National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, and National Forests



Immigrants Leaving Mounds of Trash on Tohono O'Odham Indian Sacred LandsBy Paul Cicala, KOLD News-13, Tucson, AZ, November 27, 2002

The Tohono O'Odham Nation faces an environmental crisis. Every day, nearly 1,500 undocumented immigrants [illegal aliens] pass through the U.S.'s second largest indian reservation, leaving thousands of pounds of trash on tribal lands.
Some sacred areas on the Tohono O'Odham Indian reservation larger than the size of a football field are littered with thousands of pounds of trash left behind by illegal border crossers...

Ramon says his people shouldn't be left with the burden of dealing with the mounds of trash. The Tohono O'Odham Nation shares a 71-mile-border with Mexico. Ramon says it's a federal border so it's also a problem of the federal government.

The Tohono O'Odham Nation is the second largest reservation in the country, with a population of 22,000. Nearly 2,000 tribal members live south of the border.

Border crossers enter the reservation from Mexico on foot, and form makeshift camps near major pickup points for coyotes, or undocumented immigrant [illegal alien] smugglers.

Carrasco adds, "They get to here (a spot about 30 miles north of the Sonora/Arizona border), and basically from here is where they're gonna load up. So, they don't need the extra clothes and water jugs. They leave trash here, because there's no where to put it as they get loaded up."...

Tohono O'Odham officials estimate each undocumented immigrant [illegal alien] leaves behind more than 8 pounds of litter. With nearly 1,500 crossing tribal lands every day, that amounts to 13,000 thousand pounds a day, and almost 5 million pounds a year.


The environmental cost of illegal immigration - Witnesses testify at Santee hearing
1. By Elizabeth Fitzsimons, San Diego Union-Tribune
August 6, 2006
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib ... immig.html
Illegal immigrants [criminal illegal aliens], on their journey from the border, leave behind trash and human waste that can seep into soil and water and harm wildlife.
The federal agents who pursue them do their own damage to the environment. The low-flying helicopters and off-road vehicles disturb wildlife and destroy habitat.
The extent of damage to federal lands and what can be done about it was the topic of discussion yesterday at a hearing of the House Committee on Resources, the third of its kind to be held in San Diego County to discuss illegal immigration.
The two-hour meeting at West Hills High School in Santee began at 10 a.m. and was attended by about 100 people. The hearing chairman was Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., and was attended by Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, and Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Carlsbad.
Giving testimony were representatives from the Bureau of Land Management; Border Patrol; Gulf South Research Corp., an environmental consulting firm; Off-Road Business Association; Western Growers, an agricultural trade association; as well as a Jamul equestrian and a New Mexico rancher.
Witnesses cited the recent Horse fire, which burned 17,000 acres in East County and was believed to have been caused by a campfire set by border crossers, as an example of the harm being done to the environment.
They also described the trash, including plastic bags used as makeshift boots, that are discarded and piled up....
Judy Keeler, who owns two ranches with her husband in New Mexico, told of how immigrants [criminal illegal aliens] cross her property, littering and scaring the cattle from water troughs.... She suggested building a fence, increasing Border Patrol activity and installing cameras to monitor traffic....
Read the complete article.