WASHINGTON – Homeland Security’s Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday bypassing environmental regulations to accelerate the construction of a new border barrier of about 2.5 miles between Mexico and California.
Securing borders in the Southern United States is one of the Trump administration’s top priorities, a first exemption from Trump’s second term border wall environmental law.
According to a DHS news release, these laws need to be assessed by federal agencies to assess whether proposed actions will have a negative impact on the land.
The exemption, which was featured on the federal register on Tuesday, covers a project near Jakumba Hot Springs, about 70 miles east of San Diego, and is funded through the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol budgets through the 2020 and 2021 budgets.
Last April, San Diego became the top region along the border due to the arrival of immigrants for the first time in decades. Arrivals began to drop significantly last year after Mexican authorities increased enforcement and former President Biden restricted access to asylum in June.
According to the border patrol, immigrant arrests have fallen by 70% so far compared to the same period last year.
When issuing the exemption, Noem cited a high intersection in the San Diego area last year.
“There is currently a sharp and immediate need to build additional physical barriers and roads near the US border to prevent illegal entry into the US,” Noem wrote in the registration notice.
Advocacy group Earthjustice condemned the move, noting that such exemptions were issued multiple times during the first Trump administration, and that the announcement came just days after the Senate approved a budget resolution that allocated billions of taxpayer dollars to build border walls.
“Abandoning environmental, cultural conservation and excellent governance laws that protect clean air and clean water, protect valuable cultural resources, and protect vibrant ecosystems and biodiversity will only cause further harm to border communities and ecosystems.”
Deputy U.S. Border Patrol Director David Bemiller said Tuesday that more than 50 miles of permanent and temporary sections have been built since Trump was launched on Jan. 20. The goal is to complete an uninterrupted boundary barrier of approximately 1,400 miles.
In 2023, the Biden administration faced criticism from fellow Democrats and environmental activists for abandoning 26 federal laws and allowing the construction of a 20-mile border wall in South Texas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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