The killing of an American bald eagle on Tuesday by two Honduran nationals in Nebraska is a harsh symbol of the crisis at the U.S. southern border, Conservative Political Action Conference head Matt Schlapp told Newsmax on Thursday night.
The Honduran nationals, Ramiro Hernandez-Tziquin, 20, and Domingo Zetino-Hernandez, 20, both of Norfolk, Nebraska, were each cited for unlawful possession of the bald eagle, America's national bird, and Hernandez-Tziquin was also cited for not having a driver's license, according to a release from the Stanton County Sheriff's Office.
The office added that more serious charges are possible as the investigation continues. The men told authorities they planned on cooking and eating the bird.
"It's kind of a crazy story," Schlapp told "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "What it gets to is this idea that there's a reason why you have borders and there's a reason why you carefully control who comes into your country, and you definitely control who becomes a citizen, because there's a certain culture to every country."
The American bald eagle was near extinction more than 50 years ago because of habitat destruction and degradation, illegal shooting and the contamination of its food source, largely from the pesticide DDT.
But habitat protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act, and the federal government's banning of DDT in 1972, has seen the population rise to more than 300,000 in the lower 48 states, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It still is a federal crime to kill the bird.
Schlapp said the killing of this bald eagle by the Honduran nationals is "the ultimate kind of screw-you" to the country. It is not known if the men were in the country legally.
"What don't they respect?" Schlapp said. "It seems like they don't respect so much, they certainly don't respect our laws."
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