California’s lawfare targeting President Trump’s border security policies has escalated, hitting the centerpiece of the White House’s proposals: The Wall.
State Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit alleging that President Trump’s proposal to expedite construction of a wall at the southern border violates environmental laws.
Becerra announced the legal challenge standing in front of the existing border fencing at Border Field State Park near San Diego, saying the federal government failed to comply with federal environmental laws and relied on federal statutes that don’t authorize border wall projects in San Diego and Imperial counties.“No one gets to ignore the laws. Not even the president of the United States,” Becerra said. “The border between the U.S. and Mexico spans some 2,000 miles. The list of laws violated by the president’s administration in order to build his campaign wall is almost as long.”He said the project involves the improper waiver of 37 federal statutes, many aimed at protecting the environment.
When environmental laws were put in place, they were designed to prevent the pollution of our air, protect our waterways from contamination, and ensure hazardous waste was properly and safety discarded. The over-reach of California’s politicians in using environmental measures, however, should have been anticipated: The tactics come straight out of the progressive policy handbook.
The good news is that our politicians may be the North Korea of lawfare tactics.
…At issue is a 2005 law that gave the Homeland Security secretary broad powers to waive dozens of laws for border barriers, including the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act.The Trump administration has issued two waivers since August, both in California. President George W. Bush’s administration issued the previous five waivers in 2008.Legal challenges to border barriers have failed over the years amid concerns about national security. The Congressional Research Service said in a report this year for members of Congress that it saw no legal impediment to Trump’s proposed wall if deemed appropriate for controlling the border.
Becerra had an opportunity to chat with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions about the lawsuit.
Asked about the lawsuits, Sessions said the U.S. government has a responsibility to secure the border.”We would expect to be fully successful in moving forward with our border wall as Congress gives us the money to do so,” Sessions said….Becerra’s legal action is the latest in a series of suits he has filed against the administration. He recently sued over Trump’s decision to halt a program in six months that protects young immigrants from deportation.
I am reminded that when the state of Arizona developed practical rules to actually enforce federal immigration law under then Governor Jan Brewer, it got into trouble because it went against Obama-administrations open-borders policy. When Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 was partially stuck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, Becerra had this to say:
Democratic Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-LA) told KPCC that he is worried about how the law might affect someone like his father, who speaks English with an accent and “certainly looks like he might be … from Latin America.””What happens if he goes out and drives and forgets his driver’s license?” asked Becerra. “Do we have to go pick him up from an INS detention center?
Becerra is nothing if not consistent…consistently self-centered.
I would like to second Zerohedge’s proposal for a revised border wall plan:
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY