Wildlife openings will be installed in portions U.S.-Mexico border wall — including sections in Arizona — as part of the settlement in a lawsuit over how the Trump administration paid for new construction.
The federal court settlement requires an opening of 5 feet by 7 feet in the Perilla Mountains corridor in Cochise County to accommodate jaguars and black bears, while the Sonoran pronghorn will get an opening no shorter than 18 feet in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Pima County.
The pass-throughs are the result of a settlement agreed to by the federal government to end a lawsuit challenging the decision of the Trump administration to use military construction and other funds which courts have previously ruled illegal to build new border barriers even though Congress never approved the money.