Bush Administration's Environmental Waiver Harms Southern Arizona

Bush Administration's Environmental Waiver Harms Southern Arizona

On the Friday afternoon before the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff invoked the REAL ID Act of 2005, waiving all environmental laws for construction of a 37-mile long virtual and physical wall on the U.S. - Mexico border.

Representative Raúl M. Grijalva released the following statement:

"I was dismayed, but not surprised, to learn that Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on Friday invoked the REAL ID Act and waived all environmental laws for fence construction along the 37-mile border the Barry M. Goldwater Range shares with Mexico.

"During debate on the bill in 2005, I and other opponents of the bill warned that the open-ended language in the bill would allow the Secretary to waive any and all laws he deemed inconvenient for any projects along the entire border, even while proponents of the bill were claiming the language would only apply to a border fence near San Diego. After bill passage, we were told the waiver in REAL ID would not be invoked in Arizona.

"The Secretary claims that environmental regulations have impeded the military's ability to take action to prevent migrants from crossing the range, but this is untrue. The Border Patrol already has completed the necessary environmental compliance to construct vehicle barriers along the Goldwater Range's border with Mexico and no environmental groups have opposed this action. The Border Patrol and the military are free to construct those barriers, which along with increased high tech surveillance, have already been shown to reduce traffic through the Goldwater Range. Instead of changing boats mid-stream, the military and Border Patrol should proceed with construction of vehicle barriers.

"Building a fifteen feet high wall through the heart of the Sonoran Desert will cause tremendous harm to the environment and to wildlife, and will likely be the last nail in the coffin of the imperiled Sonoran pronghorn. Near extinction already, the animal will not be able to survive with a wall cutting through its habitat. Vehicle barriers, a less environmentally damaging alternative, could help reduce human traffic across the Range, while still allowing wildlife to pass through.

"Instead of putting up walls and chopping the Sonoran Desert in half, we must as a nation, comprehensively address immigration reform and our trade and foreign policies that are driving it. The sheer will of those who are attempting to migrate to the United States, often because they are unable to find work or feed their families in their home countries, will overcome any wall and will only push migrants to another part of the border.

"Until we take a hard look at the larger issues involved and take steps to address immigration in a humane and sensible way, no wall will keep people who are fighting for survival out of the United States. Trampling on the laws that protect our environment and building walls between ourselves and Mexico are no solution to this crisis."

http://www.house.gov/grijalva/press/press_releases/pr_011407.html