Appeals court sides with Trump in border wall prototype dispute

[struggle4progress]

BY LYDIA WHEELER AND TIMOTHY CAMA - 02/11/19 01:57 PM EST

... A three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has broad authority under the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to construct wall "prototypes,” replace 14 miles of primary fencing near San Diego and replace similar fencing along a three-mile strip close to Calexico, Calif.

A coalition of environmental groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity, challenged the authority of DHS to waive dozens of laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, to make it easier to build the border infrastructure. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) also filed suit.

Steven Stafford, a Justice Department spokesman, said Monday that Congress has given the executive branch significant authority to build physical barriers on the U.S. border ...

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/429444-appeals-court-sides-with-trump-in-border-wall-prototype-dispute

[struggle4progress]

1. Rare ocelot spotted near border

February 11, 2019 at 12:09 PM MST - Updated February 11 at 12:09 PM

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD News 13) - Conservation CATalyst released a new video today of an extremely rare and wild ocelot living in the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. Captured by remote sensor cameras, this extraordinary footage provides a rare glimpse of one of North America’s most elusive wild felines. This is the first ever publicly released trail camera video of an Arizona ocelot and it comes at a critical point in this cat’s conservation.

The new video shows ‘Lil Jefe’ (the boss-elot). The nickname was affectionately chosen by students at Manzo Elementary School in Tucson, traveling his home range in the mountains of southeastern Arizona. This striking cat has established residence in the U.S. and has been intermittently photographed in the region for at least five years. The video is a result of ongoing efforts to document the rich biodiversity found in Arizona’s borderlands.

Typically thought of as a tropical animal, ocelots have always had a presence in the southwestern United States with records in Arizona dating back to the 19th century. In the last decade, at least five individual ocelots have been documented in Arizona. These cats disperse from an imperiled population in Mexico and occasionally cross into the U.S. via remote mountains ranges along the southern border ...

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/2019/02/11/rare-wild-ocelot-spotted-near-us-mexico-border/