Newly Built Border Wall Segment Further Threatens Rare Desert Fish, Conservation Organization Says

A newly built segment of border wall in southern Arizona will keep out more than just illegal immigrants, according to a conservation nonprofit.

The border wall segment and a “paved road through Arizona’s California Canyon is blocking stream flow critical to the survival of one of the only two North American populations of the Sonoran pup,” says a press release from the Center for to Biological Diversity.

The “rare desert fish” is a “small, moderately plump fish that feasts on a variety of native food sources and has a distinct, unique red coloration on its underside when in reproductive condition,” says the organization

“The new wall and road will push these endangered fish to the brink of extinction,” Krista Kemppinen, Ph.D., senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

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Once and now look at the section of the border wall in southern Arizona that affects the endangered Sonoran pupfish. (Russ McSpadden/Center for Biological Diversity)

“The Sonoran puppy survival it depends on being able to access scarce desert water on both sides of the border, exchange genetic material with populations near Mexico, and bolster their populations with upstream migrations of Sonoran fish after droughts. New construction makes all of that impossible,” he continued.

The organization drew attention to the matter a few days earlier President-elect Donald Trump is poised to resume office and ramp up his border security efforts.

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A close-up of the endangered Sonoran catfish, a “stream-dwelling minnow” that is usually five to seven inches long. (US Fish and Wildlife Service)

“Designating California Gulch as critical habitat is more urgent than ever to minimize other threats, such as keeping cows out of Sonoran pup pools,” Kemppinen said in the statement. “It is also imperative that carefully designed culverts be added to the new border infrastructure to allow at least some semblance of natural flow and migration. If federal officials are serious about saving this fish, they need to act now “.

Earlier this month, Trump sparked a heated debate over whether Democrats should be blamed for the California wildfires after he accused Gov. Gavin Newsom of caring more about protecting endangered fish species extinction known as enamel that to protect the state’s residents from wildfires.

President Donald Trump speaks with U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott as they participate in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile border wall on the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Arizona, on June 23, 2020 . (SAUL LOEB/AFP)

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Trump sparked a firestorm Wednesday when he called out Newsom on his Truth Social platform for wanting to “protect an essentially worthless fish” to protect Californians’ water needs. The comments aren’t new, though. Ahead of the November election, Trump made the claim during an interview in October podcaster Joe Rogan.

Neither the Center for Biological Diversity nor the Trump transition team responded to a request for comment for this story.

Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.