SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The Department of Homeland Security has waived numerous environmental laws and regulations to fast-track border-wall construction at three points along the border in the San Diego Sector.
Through a statement, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said a waiver “will enable the immediate construction of approximately 2.5 miles of new barrier in California.”
The statement goes on to say, “Secretary Noem is taking bold, decisive steps to secure the southern border and achieve full operational control. To cut through bureaucratic delays, DHS is waiving environmental laws — including the National Environmental Policy Act — that can stall vital projects for months or even years. This waiver clears the path for the rapid deployment of physical barriers where they are needed most, reinforcing our commitment to national security and the rule of law.”
The Center for Biological Diversity was quick to criticize the pending construction.
“This waiver is another cynical attack by the Trump administration on border communities and wildlife, who deserve the same protections that prevail everywhere else in the country,” said Laiken Jordahl, southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Jordahl stated that Trump and border-wall construction have been devastating for the environment.
“Trump took a bludgeon to the borderlands during his first term, bulldozing national monuments, dynamiting wilderness areas and eviscerating ecosystems to build ineffective border barriers — all made possible by these reckless waivers of law.”
The waiver of environmental regulations is something the first Trump administration regularly did to build or upgrade 654 miles of fencing between Mexico and the U.S.
But the practice was not limited to President Trump.
In October 2023, President Biden enacted a similar strategy to build portions of border wall infrastructure as well.
Back then, Border Report’s Sandra Sanchez wrote how over 100 organizations sent a letter to the Biden administration asking it to stop its plans to waive environmental laws to quickly build a border wall through Starr County in South Texas.
In the San Diego Sector, DHS says new border wall construction will start at the end of the year in three specific areas:
- SDC Jacumba Gap Wall Project (~2 miles)
- SDC Smugglers Gulch Wall Project (~350 feet)
- SDC 4 Wall Project (~600 feet and ~1,500 feet)
According to DHS, the projects will close critical gaps in the border barrier and enhance border security operations in the San Diego Sector.
For the month of February, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 1,650 migrant encounters in the San Diego Sector, a 74% decrease from January and a 95% decrease from February 2024.
The White House on April 1 released the number of illegal border crossings for March. The U.S. Border Patrol encountered just 7,181 migrants at the southern border, a 95% decrease from 2024 (137,473), and a 96% decrease from 2023 (163,672).
Last month, Gen. Laureano Carrillo, head of the Baja California Civil Security Secretariat told the San Diego Union-Tribune that “there is a sense of more tranquility on the border,” while praising the collaboration between Mexico’s National Guard and U.S. officials.
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