The Biden regime is suddenly trying to classify two species of mussels, which only exist in the Rio Grande River in Texas, as endangered. House Republicans are crying foul since the timing of this is so suspicious. Governor Greg Abbott has placed border buoys in the river to stop Joe Biden’s flood of illegal aliens. If these mussels were to suddenly be declared endangered, the buoys would have to be removed.
The mussel species are the Salina Musket and the Mexican fawnsfoot. Neither one appears to be edible. (We checked.) Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) is extremely skeptical about classifying these creatures as endangered. He wrote a letter to Joe Biden’s Interior Secretary Deb Haaland stating:
“The timing of this proposed rule is highly suspicious. On July 24, the Justice Department filed a complaint against the State of Texas for placing a floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande River. The very next day, on July 25, the Service proposed a rule to list these mussel species.”
The two species exist along a 300-mile stretch of the Rio Grande along three counties. Most of the areas listed in the request to classify the mussels as endangered are hot spots for illegal alien crossings. Knowing everything that we know about Joe Biden’s eagerness to destroy the country through mass immigration, does it sound likely that this was just a coincidence?
The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) first asked to classify the Salina musket as endangered back in 2007, and the Mexican fawnsfoot in 2008. The Bush administration, the Obama administration and the Trump administration all opted to do nothing about these supposedly endangered mussels. For the past 16 years, this has not been a big priority for the federal government, but it suddenly is a big deal now that the Biden regime wants Texas to remove its border buoys, which are actually working.
This won’t just affect the border buoys if the federal government is successful in classifying these species as endangered. It will also prevent the Border Patrol from doing its job along those stretches of the river. As Rep. Arrington notes, “Any federal or state actions that impact critical habitat, including border security operations, must go through a consultation process with the Service. This process can be lengthy and will most assuredly hamper vital daily border security operations.”
Which is kind of the whole point. There is no concern from the federal government that illegal aliens are squishing these mussels underfoot as they breach our southern border.
The only concern is that the Border Patrol and the defensive buoys might somehow hurt the mussels.
There are four main questions that Arrington and other House Republicans are asking Secretary Haaland to answer.
First, why did the FSA sit on these petitions to list the mussels as endangered for 16 years? Was the sudden decision to act on the petitions a direct response to the defensive Texas border buoys? Why are the mussels endangered, and have illegal alien crossings contributed to their declining numbers? And finally, how much have the populations of these mussels declined since Joe Biden threw the southern border wide open in 2021?
There is only a 1,000-foot stretch of buoys in the Rio Grande. The only parts of them that touch the bottom of the river are the two anchors at either end. It seems like hordes of illegal aliens tramping across the river and peeing in the water would be a much greater danger to the mussels, which only hang out on the bottom of the river.
One thing is clear from all this: The Biden regime is pulling out all the stops to keep the southern border completely open.
