The Department of Homeland Security has again waived a host of federal laws to speed up border wall construction in Arizona. This is the latest of several waivers DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has issued since this summer.
A federal law created in the 1990s and amended in 2005 gives DHS heads like Noem the authority to waive dozens of federal laws for border wall construction.
This waiver, issued Nov. 19, is for construction between two border monument markers. Myles Traphagen, with the Wildlands Network, says it would start just east of the Tohono O’odham Nation and extend into New Mexico — and much of that area already has border waivers dating back to 2019.
“So we’re essentially looking at a club sandwich of waivers, where they’re piled on top of each other. And I don’t really know the utility of that,” he said. “The waivers don’t expire unless they’re repealed.”
Traphagen says much of the area also already has a wall. This latest waiver could be used to build the so-called Smart Wall — a secondary barrier announced earlier this year that would include lights, surveillance and a physical structure. But it’s not clear yet what exactly that will entail.
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Mexico has largely been able to contain the deadly parasite in the southern part of the country. -
The U.S. Department of Transportation has flagged commercial driver’s license training providers for not meeting the Trump administration’s readiness standards. -
Researchers at University of Arizona have confirmed a new jaguar in southern Arizona. This is the fifth big cat over the last 15 years to be spotted in the area. -
No More Deaths’ aid camp is stationed in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, a few miles from the border in southern Arizona. The group said that site was raided by Border Patrol agents the Sunday before Thanksgiving. -
The State Department accuses the company, which they did not name, of knowingly facilitating illegal immigration.
