Newly built border wall segment further endangers rare desert fish, conservation organization says

A newly built segment of border wall in southern Arizona will keep out more than just illegal immigrants, a nonprofit conservation organization says.

The "rare desert fish" is a "small, moderately chubby fish that feasts on a variety of native food sources and has a unique and distinctly red coloration on the underside when in breeding condition," the organization says.

"The new wall and road will push these imperiled fish to the brink of extinction," Krista Kemppinen, Ph.D., a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. 

"Designating California Gulch as critical habitat is more urgent than ever to minimize other threats, such as by keeping cows out of the Sonora chub's pools," Kemppinen said in the statement. "It's also imperative that carefully designed culverts be added to the new border infrastructure to allow at least some semblance of a natural streamflow and migration. If federal officials are serious about saving this fish, they need to act now."

Earlier this month, Trump set off a fiery debate over whether Democrats should be to blame for California's wildfires after he accused Gov. Gavin Newsom of caring more about protecting endangered fish species known as smelt than protecting the state's residents from wildfires. 

Neither the Center for Biological Diversity nor the Trump transition team responded to a request for comment regarding this story. 

Fox News' Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.