The Trump Administration has waived 31 environmental and public health laws to speed up construction of the border wall through the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, according to a news release from the Center for Biological Diversity.

According to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem signed a waiver to "ensure the expeditious construction of approximately five miles of new 30-foot-tall border wall in Starr and Hidalgo counties."

This is the 7th waiver Noem has signed for border barrier construction projects, according to the CBP release.

The refuge, located in Alamo, is home with 1,200 plants, 300 butterflies and approximately 700 vertebrates with at least 520 birds. Their priority is to protect biodiversity.

The Biological Diversity news release said the waivers will allow for the border wall to be constructed across "13 refuge tracts, slicing through wildlife corridors, endangered species habitat and communities."

The wildlife refuge does harbor some of the rarest species in the United States, according to the news release. The border wall threatens endangered ocelots, aplomado falcons and hundreds of migratory birds such as green jays, Altamira orioles and plain chachalacas.

The news release the border wall also threatens endangered plants and "fragment critical habitat, sever wildlife corridors and disrupt the Rio Grande’s natural flow."