Civic Register
| 9.15.17

DHS Waives Environmental Laws For Border Wall

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What’s the story?

The Trump administration is waiving a plethora of environmental regulations and laws to ramp up construction of a two-mile segment of border wall in the California town of Calexico.

The Department of Homeland Security issued the waiver, saying the stretch of wall built in the 1990s is an area of "high illegal entry." According to a notice published in the Federal Register, the current 14-foot fence will be replaced by an 18-to-25 foot barrier “that employs a more operationally effective design.”

Why does it matter?

To speed up the construction process, acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke waived 28 environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, Archeological Resources Protection Act, and Endangered Species Act.

Less than two months ago, the Trump administration waived similar laws to begin construction on prototypes for Trump’s oft-touted "big beautiful wall" across the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

Duke said bypassing these laws was necessary given the Calexico location. "In fiscal year 2016 alone," she wrote in the Federal Register, “Border Patrol apprehended over 19,000 illegal aliens and seized approximately 2,900 pounds of marijuana and approximately 126 pounds of cocaine.”

Not everyone agrees with the regulatory rollbacks.

"Wiping away decades-old laws along the border achieves nothing more than unnecessarily harming local communities, wildlife, and wild places," Dan Millis, a campaign organizer for the Sierra Club, said in a statement. “It is irresponsible for the Trump Administration to ignore this nation’s most effective laws to deliver an extremist agenda.”

But DHS said in a statement that

"While the waiver eliminates DHS’s obligation to comply with various laws with respect to covered projects, the Department remains committed to environmental stewardship with respect to these projects."

What do you think?

Is DHS right to waive environmental laws to expedite construction of a border wall? Or is it a threat to the people and environment of Calexico? Should DHS slow the project until a full environmental impact can be done? Hit the Take Action button, tell your reps, then comment below.

—Josh Herman

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(Photo Credit: Josh Herman)