The Sierra Club has worked for more than a decade to protect America’s borderlands and their wildlife. Early in 2019, the Environmental Law Program—together with the Southern Border Communities Coalition and the ACLU—sued to stop more than 200 miles of new wall construction. The Law Program worked hand-in-hand with local Sierra Club chapters and Borderlands Team activists to identify Sierra Club members who were directly affected by new wall construction and help them raise their voices in federal court. 

The team won a preliminary halt to construction, but shortly after, the Supreme Court issued a stay allowing work to move forward until the case is decided. As a result, fragile desert habitat is being bulldozed, sacred springs drained, and Indigenous artifacts and burial sites lost. 

The Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program continues to challenge the border wall in court, while local activists raise public awareness through film screenings, photography exhibits, media events, and community protests.

In March, members of Sierra Club Military Outdoors and Indivisible Tohono came together to support the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, which is threatened by border wall construction. Indigenous activists, veterans, and former service members camped out together at the site, capturing national attention and raising awareness about the environmental destruction created by failed US border policy.