‘Stabbed in the back’: Biden’s border wall U-turn leaves Indigenous and climate groups reeling

Border wall construction along the Colorado River toppled saguaro cactuses, put endangered ocelots at risk and disturbed Native American burial grounds. Photograph: Matt York/AP

The Biden administration’s decision to waive environmental, public health and cultural protections to speed new border wall construction has enraged environmentalists, Indigenous leaders and community groups in the Rio Grande valley.

“It was disheartening and unexpected,” said Laiken Jordahl, a borderlands campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), amid concerns of the impact on essential corridors for wild cats and endangered plants in the area. “This is a new low, a horrific step backwards for the borderlands.”