Doing a Trump? Illegal migration makes Biden admin waive 26 federal laws in South Texas to build border wall

Biden administration on Wednesday (Oct 4) made a significant move by invoking a rarely used executive power, one which was frequently employed during the Trump presidency, to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas. This controversial decision, which has made environmental experts jittery, paves the way for the construction of a border wall, covering a span of up to 20 miles, media reports said.

The Department of Homeland Security posted this announcement on the US Federal Registry. However, it provided only limited specifics about the construction. The scope of the construction is primarily situated in Starr County, Texas. The County falls within a particularly active Border Patrol sector known for experiencing a high level of illegal entry.

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As per US government data, the Rio Grande Valley Sector, encompassing 21 counties, has recorded approximately 245,000 illegal entries in the current fiscal year. “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct 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 areas,” the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, said in a statement.

Environmental concerns

This highly contentious move by the Biden administration has concerned environmental activists with many pointing at the damage and destruction it will bring to the habitat. Among the federal laws that were waived were the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. The construction funds will be from a congressional appropriation in 2019 for border wall construction, as per reports.

With the help of these waivers, tedious reviews and environmental lawsuits will be done away with. Environmental advocates have expressed shock over the decision and said that the structures will pass through public lands and habitats of endangered plants and species.

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“The other concern that we have is that the area is highly erosive. There's a lot of arroyos,” Eloy Vera, the county judge reportedly said.

Laiken Jordahl, a southwest conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, said on Wednesday (Oct 4), “A plan to build a wall through will bulldoze an impermeable barrier straight through the heart of that habitat. It will stop wildlife migrations dead in their tracks. It will destroy a huge amount of wildlife refuge land. And it's a horrific step backwards for the borderlands.”

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It is worth noting that during former US President Donald Trump's tenure, around 450 miles of barriers were built along the southwest border. The erection of the borders took place between 2017 and January 2021.

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