{"id":1984819,"date":"2023-07-28T05:20:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T09:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-biden-administration-could-use-endangered-mexican-mussels-to-shut-down-floating-border-wall\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T05:21:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T09:21:42","slug":"how-the-biden-administration-could-use-endangered-mexican-mussels-to-shut-down-floating-border-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-biden-administration-could-use-endangered-mexican-mussels-to-shut-down-floating-border-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden admin&#8217;s potential use of endangered Mexican mussels to halt floating border wall."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-the-biden-administration-could-use-endangered-mexican-mussels-to-shut-down-floating-border-wall%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1984819&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>&#8216;Critical\u2063 habitat&#8217; designation \u2064would \u2064protect mussels found in Rio Grande from environmental\u2064 &#8216;threats&#8217;<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure><figcaption>Immigrants\u2062 cross \u200cthe\u200b Rio \u2063Grande\u2063 \/ Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>President Joe Biden\u200c is\u200c taking action\u2064 to safeguard a Mexican mussel species residing \u2063in the Rio Grande.\u200d By declaring it endangered, the administration aims to \u200daddress the water\u200c barriers implemented \u200cby Texas \u200bgovernor Greg Abbott\u2062 (R.) to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mayorkas-is-destroying-ice-from-within-demands-end-to-mass-worksite-raids-must-focus-instead-on-exploitation-of-undocumented-workers\/\" title=\"Mayorkas Is \u2018Destroying\u2019 ICE \u2018From Within\u2019: Demands End To Mass Worksite Raids, Must Focus Instead On \u2018Exploitation\u2019 Of \u2018Undocumented Workers\u2019\">combat illegal immigration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Biden&#8217;s Fish and Wildlife\u200c Service has recently proposed a rule to designate\u200d the Mexican fawnsfoot mussel as endangered. This \u200dmove would establish a &#8220;critical habitat&#8221; in significant portions\u2064 of the Rio Grande, including areas where Abbott placed buoys to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-deploys-floating-barrier-in-rio-grande-river\/\" title=\"Texas uses floating barrier in Rio Grande River.\">deter illegal border crossings<\/a>\u200c in Eagle Pass. While\u200b Biden is pursuing legal action to remove \u2064these buoys, \u2064the critical habitat declaration could provide an alternative \u200dmeans to eliminate them if the lawsuit is unsuccessful. This designation would protect the mussels from various threats, including barriers to fish movement and the\u200b movement of fine sediments, both \u2062of\u200d which\u2062 are likely caused by \u200dthe\u200d buoys.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration&#8217;s \u200cproposal comes just days\u2063 after the Department of Justice threatened\u200c to sue Abbott over the floating\u200b barriers. The administration argues \u2062that the buoys, subject to\u200d federal\u2064 approval under the Rivers and Harbors \u200dAct, pose serious risks to the environment. However, Leon\u2064 Kolankiewicz,\u2064 scientific director of immigration group NumbersUSA, \u2063questions \u200dthe timing of invoking the Endangered Species Act, noting that\u200d environmentalists have historically\u200b used habitat destruction\u2064 arguments \u200bto oppose \u200cborder \u200bsecurity measures.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, when former president\u2063 George W.\u2062 Bush announced the construction of border fencing in 2008, the\u2062 Sierra Club claimed\u200c it would \u200blead to the destruction \u2064of the\u200d borderlands region. \u200bSimilarly, during\u200c the early days \u200cof the Trump administration, the Center for \u2064Biological\u2063 Diversity argued that \u2064the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-biden-administration-could-use-endangered-mexican-mussels-to-shut-down-floating-border-wall\/\" title=\"Biden admin's potential use of endangered Mexican mussels to halt floating border wall.\">proposed\u200d border wall threatened 93 endangered species<\/a>. In June, the same organization \u2062called\u2063 for the removal of land barriers along the Arizona border due to similar concerns.<\/p>\n<p>While the Fish and \u2062Wildlife Service \u200bdid not provide a direct response regarding\u2063 the \u200dfate of the buoys, it is reasonable to assume\u200b that they would pose threats to fish movement and\u2062 river sediments.\u2064 The buoys, equipped with\u200b underwater nets and anchored to the riverbed, could impede fish swimming \u2063and potentially disturb sediment during construction or maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>Eagle Pass has experienced\u2062 the second-highest number of illegal crossings\u2062 in \u200cthe country\u200d this year. Although Abbott&#8217;s floating barrier spans\u200c about 1,000 feet, he has hinted at the possibility of extending it for miles along the\u2062 Rio Grande. \u200cThe proposed rule by the Biden\u2063 administration outlines the habitat of the Mexican\u2063 fawnsfoot,\u2062 which stretches over 185 miles \u200ddownstream, beginning\u2062 approximately six miles\u200b upstream of Eagle Pass.<\/p>\n<p>The Fish and \u200dWildlife Service&#8217;s\u200b proposal is currently open for public \u200ccomment until September 25. Following this stage, the agency will\u2062 publish a final rule. Abbott has vowed to vigorously defend his buoys in\u200d court.<\/p>\n<p>If Biden&#8217;s lawsuit fails and Abbott&#8217;s \u200bbuoys remain in place, \u200ca finalized\u200c rule designating \u200dthe\u200b mussel as endangered would likely \u2062provide renewed momentum \u200cfor the administration&#8217;s efforts to remove the water \u2064barriers. Reversing the rule would require going \u200dthrough the \u2062official regulatory process, including proposing a revocation, allowing ample \u200dtime\u2062 for public input, and \u200cfinalizing a new \u2063rule. \u2063Alternatively,\u200d a new president could immediately revoke \u2063the designation, but only \u2063with the approval of both houses of Congress.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Texas will see the Biden Administration in court to aggressively defend our sovereign authority to secure the border,&#8221; Abbott said. &#8220;Biden&#8217;s open \u200dborder policies created this humanitarian disaster.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden is taking steps to safeguard the Rio Grande&#8217;s mussels by designating them as &#8216;critical habitat&#8217;. This move aims to counter environmental risks and potentially remove water barriers imposed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R.), benefiting both the endangered species and immigrants crossing the river.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2112,"featured_media":1984820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1984819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1984819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1984819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1984820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1984819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1984819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1984819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}