One of the most direct environmental impacts of illegal immigration is one that’s clearly observable to anyone who lives at the southwest border — the thousands of pounds of trash that are discarded and left behind by aliens and their hired human smugglers.
Border trash refers to items discarded by persons involved in illegal immigration such as plastic containers, clothing, backpacks, foodstuffs, vehicles, bicycles and paper. It can also consist of human waste and sometimes medical products.
Accumulated border trash has been shown to affect human health, the environment and economic well-being. Impacts include:
- Strewn trash and piles
- Illegal trails and paths
- Erosion and watershed degradation
- Damaged infrastructure and property
- Loss of vegetation and wildlife
- Campfires and escaped fires
- Abandoned vehicles and bicycles
- Vandalism, graffiti, and site damage (historical and archaeological)
- Occurrence of bio-hazardous waste
The collection and disposal of waste in remote areas along Arizona’s 370-mile border with Mexico poses difficult challenges. An estimated more than 2,000 tons of trash is discarded annually in Arizona’s borderlands. Through June of this year (2018), over 15,000 pounds of trash have been removed.
Every illegal alien prevented from crossing our southern border represents about seven pounds of garbage that will no longer be left behind to potentially damage water systems, wildlife, and soil.
As such, lawmakers ought to consider that securing the border is not just a matter of national security, but environmental security as well.
Please read more at https://www.azbordertrash.gov/
