On Dec. 3, 2019, we filed suit against We Build the Wall, Brian Kolfage, Fisher Industries and Neuhaus & Sons, LLC, after they began construction of their private fence downstream from the National Butterfly Center, and began making malicious, false and inflammatory statements against both the center and our executive director. Two days later, the International Boundary and Water Commission also filed suit against the parties for separate issues related to the construction of the private fence. Our suit was pulled up from state court to federal court, where Judge Randy Crane effectively joined our suits, although the causes of action were completely distinct and unrelated.
During nearly two years of hearings, it became obvious that the judge and the assistant U.S. attorney were both biased toward the defendants. The government's final settlement agreement only serves to affirm that, as it allows the dangerous fence to stand and calls for the destruction of evidence concerning how poorly constructed it is. The evidence they sought to suppress--going so far as to request that all physical and electronic copies be destroyed--is the engineering inspection report by Arcadis, published here.
Why would the government seek to conceal and destroy this report? Because it is damning. Damning against Fisher, who has received more than $2.2 billion in taxpayer monies to build government border wall as a result of this project; and damning against the government parties involved in this cover up. The government knows full well that "the fence not only does not meet sliding, flotation, location of resultant force, and bearing pressure checks, but would effectively slide, overturn, and become buoyant." In other words, the fence will fall and float downstream in a flood event--as we alleged and our engineers substantiated--and is "not fit for use under all reasonably anticipated service loads." When this happens, there will be property damage and, potentially, loss of life. The floating fence may even breach Anzalduas Dam and cause catastrophic downstream flooding.
The fact that the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) signed this binding settlement agreement belies their interest in protecting the Rio Grande, and in preserving the integrity of the international boundary, the floodplain and the dam. In fact, it would appear as though they have completely abdicated that responsibility and should be stripped of that authority.
Based upon this settlement agreement and this report, one might reasonably argue that the IBWC, their lawsuit, and the actions of the U.S. attorneys on behalf of the Department of Justice are all as big a sham as the fraud perpetrated by the defendants.
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Butterflies