South Texas butterfly center temporarily closes due to ‘threats’ from border rally

The National Butterfly Center (NBC) in Mission, a border town in Hildago County, is closing for the weekend in response to a controversial three-day border security rally that the group leaders say makes them “targets.” 

The Rio Grande-adjacent nature preserve is part of the North American Butterfly Association, which is a nonprofit dedicated to the conservation and study of butterflies. The Texas center’s proximity to the hotly contested area has landed it in a fight against the border wall. 

NBC issued a lengthy letter to supporters on Thursday, January 27 to notify them of the Friday, January 28 to Sunday, January, 30 closure and the “credible threats” they say caused the precautionary measure.

A queen butterfly takes nectar from a tropical milkweed at the National Butterfly Center.

Bob Owen /Staff file photo

The alert ties the threats to the We Stand America event taking place at the Payne Arena about 20 minutes away from the center. According to its website, the event is being organized by Women Fighting For America, a Florida-based group. The center says the decision was after the executive director Marianna Trevino Wright claimed she and her son were confronted by people tied to the group on Friday, January 21. 

The center also shares that an unnamed state official advised a closure. 

“He said the National Butterfly Center would likely be a stop on this ‘take action tour,’ and [Wright] and the center are targets,” the letter states. 

Neither the center, the organizers, nor the Mission Police Department were immediately available to comment. 

National Butterfly Center employees will be paid throughout the closure. 

“We simply cannot risk the safety and lives of our staff and visitors during this dangerous time,” the center says in an online statement. 

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