Butterflies at the Border
By Victoria Martinez; Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2025
As the monarch butterfly migration settles over the borderlands, a handful of bright orange monarchs still flutter along the Rio Grande, but each year, there are fewer to be seen. Scientists are noticing a rapid decline in butterflies, raising the question of environmental health. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposed listing the monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in December 2024, recognizing that without urgent action, this iconic insect could face extinction across significant portions of its range. According to the Xerces Society, the Monarch populations have plummeted by more than 80% in the last two decades.
The decline in monarch butterflies can indicate a bigger problem affecting other species, including honeybees, birds, and plants, which are vital to human life.
These striking orange and black-winged monarch butterflies have played essential roles in Indigenous and cultural traditions for generations. In Mexico, the return of the monarch butterfly coincides with the Day of the Dead and symbolizes the reconnection of the souls of ancestors reuniting with their loved ones. The long migration journey and life cycle of these beautiful creatures can be seen as a metaphor for hope, resilience, and transformation.
These monarch butterflies have a remarkable migration journey as they can travel up to 3,000 miles from North America to central Mexico, one of the longest migrations of any insect. It takes approximately 4 to 5 generations of monarchs to complete their entire migration across North America. As these butterflies travel, they fertilize plants and wildflowers, contributing to biodiversity and food security maintenance in ecosystems from Canada to Mexico. These butterflies sustain the ecosystem balance and food chain by serving as prey for birds and other predators.
While framed as a security measure, the southern Texas border wall has caused negative ecological impacts on the population of monarch butterflies and other migratory wildlife such as birds. Although butterflies and birds can fly over the border wall, habitat loss poses a larger threat. The construction of the border wall, other security infrastructure, and militarization involve clearing land, which removes vital resources needed to rest and refuel long journeys. With the continued presence of Homeland Security, border patrol, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the State Guard have created fragmented “islands” of biodiversity by clearing land for surveillance. When habitats are fragmented by roads, fences, or surveillance zones, wildlife populations become isolated. This limits breeding, reduces genetic diversity, and makes species like the monarch more vulnerable to extinction.
This ecological fragmentation is expected to intensify with the upcoming expansion of the Smart Wall system along the southern U.S. border. The Department of Homeland Security recently awarded contracts totaling $4.5 billion to build more than 230 miles of new smart barriers and surveillance infrastructure across the Southwest, including the Del Rio sector that encompasses Eagle Pass. According to a recent DHS report, construction on the Smart Wall expansion is expected to begin in early 2026. While officials frame the Smart Wall as a technological and environmental improvement over physical fencing, it still requires clearing large areas of native vegetation, constructing patrol roads, and installing bright lighting that disrupts nocturnal wildlife. Conservationists warn that this new wave of border infrastructure will further reduce milkweed and nectar sources crucial to migrating monarchs and other pollinators.
“You already have climate change and are dealing with an overstressed and overburdened river system like the Rio Grande,” informed Martin Castro, Watershed Science Director at RGISC, “and when you compound that with the border barrier, it’s the perfect storm of stressors.” While there’s been habitat loss due to the security infrastructure along the border, other factors affecting these migratory insects are pesticide use, climate change, and negative environmental policies, which contribute to the declining rates of our incredible pollinators and wildlife.
There are local, state, and federal laws that allow communities to have input within federal projects, which would ensure clean air and water and protect endangered species. Unfortunately, in 2005, Congress passed the REAL ID Act, which allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive all environmental local, state, and federal laws for the construction of the border barrier, causing enormous amounts of environmental destruction.
“These policies only favor certain interests,” informed Mr. Castro, “they favor neutral development, agriculture, and urbanization, which reduces habitats for the species.” While the US continues to find ineffective ways of preventing immigration, the future with our new administration can pose threats to our environment by weakening policies and favoring industrial and economic interests. Losing pollinating insects may seem insignificant, though the economic cost of the decline in crop yields would lead to higher food costs, food insecurities, job loss, and economic instability.
We can ensure a healthier planet for everyone by taking small steps to protect these fundamental creatures. Planting native milkweed can provide resources for monarchs as the plant hosts and provides nutrients for their larvae. By reducing pesticides and opting for natural pest control methods, we can help monarchs and other pollinators thrive in their environments. Education and advocacy can raise awareness of the monarch’s declining population and inspire others to take action.
As new projects like the Smart Wall expand across the borderlands, the choices we make today will determine whether future generations inherit a thriving ecosystem or a fragmented one. Protecting monarch butterflies is not about preserving a single species, but protecting the ecosystem that sustains all life on Earth. The monarch butterfly’s survival is a testament to humanity’s commitment to environmental stewardship and coexistence.
