Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP / Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security announced that it is waiving 26 federal laws to expedite the start of construction on a section of wall along the southern border between the United States and Mexico.
The new section of the wall will span roughly 17 miles across Starr County, Texas, which is part of the Rio Grande Valley Sector. There have been 245,000 illegal entries recorded in that sector, which spans 21 counties, so far this fiscal year.
The construction will paid for using funds appropriated by Congress in 2019.
“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,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
By waiving federal laws, such as the Clean Air Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act, it allows the government to begin construction without having to conduct timely and costly environment reviews that could delay the project.