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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday there is an “acute and immediate need” to build border wall in southern Texas, and issued an order waiving some of the country’s most iconic environmental protection laws to speed up construction.
Mr. Mayorkas identified dozens of miles of border where he plans to build a barrier and roads, and where he indicated those environmental laws would be a hindrance.
“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,” Mr. Mayorkas said in an official filing in the Federal Register. “In order to ensure the expeditious construction of the barriers and roads in the project areas, I have determined that it is necessary that I exercise the authority that is vested in me by section 102(c) of IIRIRA.”