By Maria Ortiz
04 Oct 2023, 22:14 PM EDT
Joe Biden’s administration announced on Wednesday that waived the application of 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow construction of the border wallmarking the administration’s first use of broad executive power employed earlier during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is citing an “acute and immediate need” to waive dozens of federal laws to build a border wall in south Texas, where the arrival of undocumented immigrants has increased, in stark contrast to the rejection of the use of a border wall expressed in the early days of the Biden administration, according to The Associated Press.
The DHS published an announcement in the US Federal Register. that describes the construction of the border wall in Starr County, in the Rio Grande Valley sector, where the administration says there is “a high level of illegal entry.” The agency says more than 245,000 immigrant encounters have occurred in the sector this fiscal year.
The announcement by the Biden government comes days after it was learned that arrests of immigrants attempting to irregularly cross the southern border increased by 36% in August, with more than 181,059 arrests.
Mayorkas says he is using the authority given to him by Congress to waive 26 federal lawsincluding the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
Law waivers provided by the federal government avoid time-consuming reviews and lawsuits challenging violations of environmental laws.
Environmental organization warns against the wall
The mountain ranches of Starr County, located between Zapata and McAllen, Texas, are home to about 65,000 residents who sparsely inhabit about 1,200 square miles (3,108 square kilometers) that are part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
Although no maps were provided in the announcement, a previous map shared during public comment gathering shows that Phased construction will add an additional 20 miles to the area’s existing border barrier system. Starr County Judge Eloy Vera said it will begin south of Falcon Dam and pass through Salineño, Texas.
“The other concern we have is that this area is highly erosive. There are many streams,” said Eloy Vera, the county judge, pointing out the streams that run through the ranch and flow into the river.
Concern is shared with environmental advocates who say the structures will cut through public lands, habitats for endangered plants and species such as the ocelot, a spotted bobcat and They have warned of the damage to the environment that the construction of the border wall will cause.
“A plan to build a wall will tear down an impermeable barrier directly through the heart of that habitat. It will stop wildlife migrations in their tracks. It will destroy a huge amount of wildlife refuge land. And it’s a terrible step backwards for the borderlands,” Laiken Jordahl, southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said Wednesday.
During the Trump administration, About 450 miles of border wall were built along the southwest border between 2017 and January 2021.
The DHS decision released Wednesday contrasts with the position of the Biden administration when a presidential proclamation to end the construction of the border wall published on January 20, 2021 says: “building a huge wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious political solution.”
Keep reading:
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– California activists ask Biden not to close Friendship Park in San Diego