Homeland Security Just Made it Easier to Secure the Southern Border

Present Mexico-US border wall at Tijuana

If President Donald Trump manages to get his border wall, will that be enough to seal his “America First” legacy even if Congress doesn’t pass an Obamacare repeal?

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security just waived a restrictive environmental regulation to pave the way for contractors to start building a wall on the southern border — one of President Trump’s campaign promises.

From the Washington Times:

The waivers apply to San Diego, where officials already plan to upgrade miles of existing fence, but where they’ll also stage a competition this summer to build and test prototypes for Mr. Trump’s wall.

It’s the first in what’s likely to be a series of waivers that will be needed as wall construction ramps up.

Officials insisted they will still try to be mindful of local impacts as they work on the wall.

“While the waiver eliminates DHS’s obligation to comply with various laws with respect to covered projects, the department remains committed to environmental stewardship with respect to these projects,” the department said in a statement.

As reported, the so-called land protection waiver has been used before.

Photo credit: © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

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