EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — The Department of Homeland Security announced that it intends to waive dozens of environmental laws to expedite border wall construction in California.
A Notice of Determination filed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday states there is “presently an acute and immediate need to construct additional physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project area.”
Among the laws being waived are the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.
The project could include, roads, drainage systems, erosion controls, safety features, lighting, cameras and sensors.
Noem’s letter says the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector is “an area of high illegal entry,” adding that from fiscal year 2021 through July 2025, border agents apprehended over 922,000 migrants in the sector.
The number of migrant encounters, however, has dropped to historic lows. In August, Border Patrol agents encountered just 6,321 people crossing the border illegally along the entire Southwest border.
Environmentalists question why the government is ramping up border wall construction when so few migrants are attempting to cross illegally.
In a statement to Border Report, Laiken Jordahl, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the waivers a “senseless attack” on the wildlife and communities of California’s borderlands.
“Border crossings are at historic lows, yet the Trump administration is declaring a bogus emergency and tossing aside decades of hard-won environmental protections to fast-track wall construction,” Jordahl said. “They’re robbing border communities and endangered wildlife of equal protection under the law to steamroll more walls through sensitive ecosystems.”
In this episode of Border Report Live, correspondent Salvador Rivera welcomes researchers Christina Aiello and Myles Traphagen of the Salt Lake City-based Wildlands Network.
The two have spent the last few days mapping the border between San Diego and Baja California, examining where new portions of the border barrier will be built and how the structures will impact wildlife and biodiversity in the area.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, about 10 miles of primary and secondary border wall are planned in different spots of the border from the Pacific Ocean to Jacumba Springs in San Diego County. The agency is seeking comment
Comments can be emailed to CBP at SanDiegoComments@cbp.dhs.gov. Include “San Diego Border Barrier System Construction” in the subject of your email. Comments may also be submitted to CBP by calling (833) 412-2056 or mailed to the following address:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters
Program Management Office Directorate
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. 6.5E Mail Stop 1039
Washington, DC 20229-1100
ATTN: Michelle Barnes
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