As a political fight rages in Washington over President Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion in border wall funding, there have been spirited acts of resistance on the United States-Mexico border.

Protests have been held. Resolutions passed. And initiatives funded to help the very people the wall is aimed to keep out.

[This month, we’re launching a limited-run weekly newsletter about life on the border, far from the tug-of-war of Washington politics. Sign up here to receive the first issue of Crossing the Border when it launches.]

In South Texas, It’s Butterflies vs. the Border Wall

Bulldozers arrived last week near the National Butterfly Center in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, signaling the Trump administration’s intention to begin construction on a steel and concrete barrier that would swallow more than two-thirds of the 100-acre wildlife refuge and botanical garden. The nonprofit center, which abuts the Rio Grande, sits on the path of a six-mile stretch of wall that has already been funded.