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TechnoratiEnvironmental Rules Waived For Mexican Border Fence
Homeland Security says it will go around state and federal laws in a push to finish 670 miles along the boundary with Mexico this year.
WASHINGTON - In an aggressive move to finish 670 miles of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of the year, the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday announced plans to waive federal and state environmental laws.
The two waivers, which were approved by Congress, will allow Homeland Security to slash through a thicket of more than 30 environmental and cultural laws to speed construction.
Environmentalists and local officials have strenuously opposed some of the planned infrastructure projects, saying they will damage the land and disrupt wildlife.
But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday that the department was committed to minimizing the impact on the environment. The draft environmental assessments, he said, show the projects will have only "insignificant impacts on the environment and cultural resources."
"DHS is neither compromising its commitment to responsible environmental stewardship nor its commitment to solicit and respond to the needs of state, local and tribal governments," Chertoff said in a prepared statement.
Critics, however, said the waivers were intended to sidestep growing and unexpectedly fierce opposition -- especially in Arizona and in Texas, where concerns have been raised about endangered species and fragile ecosystems along the Rio Grande.
"The Bush administration's latest waiver of environmental and other federal laws threatens the livelihoods and ecology of the entire U.S.-Mexico border region," said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope. "Secretary Chertoff chose to bypass stakeholders and push through this unpopular project on April Fool's Day. We don't think the destruction of the borderlands region is a laughing matter."
Environmentalists' concerns are that a fence could, among other things, disrupt the migration corridors of butterflies and two endangered species of wildcats: the ocelot, which resembles a miniature leopard, and the jaguarundi, an otter-faced relative of the puma.
In California, invoking the waivers clears the way for 4.5 miles of fencing and 6 miles of roads on Otay Mountain, east of San Diego, a plan that has not met with significant organized opposition.
Homeland Security's push to build more fencing came after Congress failed to overhaul immigration laws amid an acrimonious national debate over illegal border crossings. In 2006, conservatives in Congress championed the Secure Fence Act despite the reluctance of President Bush, who has insisted that a comprehensive approach is needed to deal with illegal immigration. Congress subsequently gave Chertoff the power to waive federal law to hasten construction.
The department has faced intense opposition from border communities and has had to go to court against more than 50 property owners simply to survey land for the fence. Experts said the congressional waivers would make it extremely difficult for successful legal challenges based on environmental or cultural claims. But the waivers will not affect the legal battles between Homeland Security and private landowners.
On Tuesday, Republicans in Congress hailed Chertoff's decision, saying the accelerated plans for completing border projects would help stem illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
"It's great; this is the priority area where most of the illegal activity is going on and where most of the deaths are occurring," said Rep. Brian P. Bilbray (R-Carlsbad), chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus.
But backers of comprehensive immigration reform said the waivers did little to address the fundamental weaknesses of immigration policy and would not lead to tighter border controls. "This isn't the first time the DHS has used this authority, and each time it has resulted in increased frustration by all stakeholders," said Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D-El Monte).
Homeland Security has completed about 300 miles of pedestrian and vehicle barriers. An additional 370 miles remain to be built, along with all-weather roads, cameras, lighting and other infrastructure projects. But much of that fencing -- along a 470-mile span stretching from Texas to California -- has been held up by federal, state and local regulations, officials said.
Until Tuesday, the department had given few hints that waivers would be used. Homeland Security had followed the environmental impact statement process, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. The public was allowed to comment on the draft environmental impact statements and assessments. Some environmental groups said they were awaiting the final reports when Chertoff made the announcement.
Chertoff said the department had been a careful steward of the environment, even after exercising waiver authority. Three previous waivers have been issued by Homeland Security.
One in September 2005 was issued to complete about 14 miles of fence near San Diego. Another in January 2007 was to build infrastructure near the Barry M. Goldwater military range in southern Arizona. A third waiver was issued in October 2007 near the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, also in southern Arizona.
Chertoff said the department had helped in the recovery efforts of two endangered species in Arizona, the Sonoran pronghorn and lesser long-nosed bat, and had delayed fence construction to excavate a culturally significant site within the San Pedro River basin.
Critics, however, say the department's environmental assessments have been rushed efforts that present a distorted and incomplete picture.
"It's surprising how cursory their reviews have been," said Kim Delfino, director of the California branch of Defenders of Wildlife. "There's a lot of boilerplate and analysis shifted from one document to another. It's kind of like they were going through the motions."
Marosi reported from San Diego and Gaouette from Washington.
© 2008 The Los Angeles Times
41 Comments so far
Show Allchessgames56 - I hire legal labor and pay a fair wage. I also have seen hard working kids that make far more than they could hope to make any where else because we pay piece work and they work fast. I neglected to mention that we also hired an adult mother who worked part time at our farm because she could also make a better wage than her government job. My point is that most hard workers have enough gumption to get trained and move on to better jobs. In a global economy, untrained workers will find it harder and harder to find subsidies for laziness. They will get paid what they are worth.
Lino and Mr. Obvious, 80,000 people just lost their jobs this month. Now, lino talks about lazy 18 year olds with a bad attitude, and Mr. Obvious about kids who sound inherently useless, or even retarded (i.e., can't even pick vegetables without screwing up). The implication is that Mexicans do not complain, and have a great 'work ethic,' especially when it comes to menial labor. Are illegals in any position to complain about low wages or exhibit a bad attitude? Complain to whom?
Sounds like you both feel a kind of contempt for the younger generation (and perhaps for the American worker in general). In fairness to them, many have not had to provide for their own survival, and don't really have a clue how difficult it is maintain a household. They, indeed, have some 'growing up' to do. Sounds like you've written them off.
I dare say neither of you would work for below minimum wage or do work you hated with a smile on your face. And for what it's worth, if I hired anyone to do work for me, I'd pay them a fair wage, even if I could get away with paying less. It has to do with the 'do unto others' thingy.
Another thing is that not all of the labor force is 18, and many of us WILL work hard for a fair living wage, especially when the chips are down, but we also realize the futility of working for next to nothing, as most will not live with 2 other families in a 1 family home to make ends meet--not unless we're absolutely forced to.
You've adopted to corporate or business attitude that cares most about maximizing profit while minimizing labor costs, and if this attitude--which, for many, has turned into a kind of 'welfare queen' contempt--continues to spread, many more capable workers will be marginalized in favor of cheaper labor by those who stand to benefit the most. Worse yet, a growing resentment could easily turn into violence and social unrest if people are made to compete for essentials.
I predict that this so-called cheap labor will soon get very, very expensive, once their numbers reach a certain point. Think of it like a snowball rolling downhill and gathering momentum; remembering the Bolshevik revolution when the slaves became the slave masters.
Think it can't or won't happen here? Don't be so sure.
"you might find that the mexicans get hired because they actually work". thank you, mr. obvious. for the most part, they are working machines. so efficient. all this simply because work is in their blood. what's amazing is that they mostly do it with a smile on their faces. happy to be alive, thankful they can work. no excuses. so beautiful to watch, and to be a part of.
chessgame56, how many 18 year olds do you know who show up for "low-skilled jobs", working efficiently, with smiles on their faces? better yet, how many do you know who even feel obligated to work?
chessgames56 - You might want to try to hire some folks for unskilled jobs. You might find that the Mexicans get hired because they actually work. Any citizen with any motivation gets trained to do something demanding skill. The rest are near useless. They want handouts without any effort. We hire local farm kids on our farm, rather than illegal aliens. The kids that last leave after high school for some type of training (vocational or college). We pay peice-work, but some of these kids can't even pick vegetables without screwing up. It is not hard to sort the workers from the lazy. The workers work. Habits start early.
I think that the border region is on it's way to becoming a toxic waste dump buffer zone between the US and Central/South America
wtf, you are so correct.
chessgames56 and evelyna, no, the immigrants will not keep wages low. currently, we are paying 3 plus dollars for a gallon of gas. if you think we need higher wages, consult your local, regional and national politicians, and lobby for minimum wage increases, on a monthly, or weekly, basis. wouldn't it be nice to see a connect between minimum wage and gas prices. then we wouldn't have to listen to everyone piss and moan about "illegal" immigrants. care to know how the native americans feel about "illegal" immigrants? in my neighborhood, "illegal" immigrants get $6.50/square foot to do stucco work. know any gringos willing to do it for that price? hell, do you even know any gringos who'd do the work in the first place? and do it right? most all americans (ALL descendants in some way, shape, or form of "illegal" immigrants by the way) are too caught up in the concept of consumerism, just salivating while they wait for the latest technological concept that will make their lives smarter and ever more disconnected to reality, all the while making the big corporation even bigger. it's not the "illegal" immigrants who are the problem. it's the morons we've got in public office who are leading the morons who aren't in public office.
I don't care if Lou Dobbs is married to a Ukrainian. Or maybe an Albanian. His adventure in entertainment has wrought a great shame. The idea that the border can be sealed is a joke. Trying to seal it is both stupid and evil. We bemoan the strain on Social Security posed by the Boomers because there aren't enough workers, but keep workers out of the country. The people who wail about loss of jobs to illegal immigrants says more about them than is obvious. They are saying they cannot compete with people who can't even speak English, are only semi-literate, and are grossly "unskilled". Maybe they shouldn't have dropped out of high school and not depended on jobs being provided for them by others as a matter of right. Who has not experienced being over-charged for shoddy work? Frank Zappa was right! We do need more good jobs, but not those which are at the bottom and can be accomplished by anyone smarter than a trained ape. It simply is not worth violating our own traditions by building an iron curtain across the border to show our true color.
...fences make good tunnels...
The poor have no rights, human or otherwise, that the rich are bound to respect.
Make no mistake, this is a message to the rich that the poor will continue to be forced to labor for their idleness and arrogance.
The phrase "Rule of law" has become a punch line in jokes that circulate among the ruling class.
"Without them, where will the food come from? Who will make your suburban garden prettier than the Jones'?"
The argument used to be that they would keep the cost of food low.
Anyone and everyone will work a job. The companies want to pay starvation wages and give all of the profits to the top executives.
The illegals are keeping wages low.
As long as the guard towers face north (to keep idiots in), this plan is fine with me. Of course, here in Canada, the towers must face south. You've done it to yourselves.
The original Mexican border fence, hard against that road, is as colorful (on the Mexican side) as the Berlin Wall was on the West Berlin side. It's a national graffiti magnet.
The sad part is that Bu$h the inferior is just building the fence for political reasons. They don't care about it, don't care if it works, don't want illegal immigrant issue resolved for or against anything except status quo.
The rich get additional slaves with no rights, no minimum wage, no workers compensation, no property rights to be used to keep poor citizens distracted and angry. When the pressure builds or the illegals unionize their property will be seized and they will be deported.
Goofy left wingers won't fight for full rights and citizenship for these workers either. Instead they try to keep them off the books too as a phony humanity argument - contributing to thousands of abused illegals getting jerked around year after year.
The bottom line is the environment will be destroyed for a fence, a contractor will rip off the taxpayer, the fence will intentionally not work, illegals will still get screwed, citizens will face lower wages, criminals will benefit in the confusion, and racism will increase.
Lou Dobbs? He's not against immigration, he's against 'illegal' immigrtion and for fair wages and treatment of the Mexican or South American laborors. __ His wife is Mexican.
Whatever happened to the virtual fence?That was kinda far out ,I mean patrolled by predator drones,and robotic sensors,infrared sensors and all that high tech stuff!An Ocelot could deal with that.Will environmentalists be able to sue for Ocelot crossings?Maybe Jaguarundi catapults will cause injuries!I think some C.D.commentators should write for The Onion, there is real talent here. peas out
The people in favor of this fence are just as stupid as those who originally put up the Berlin Wall. Medievalists, I guess you could say. Slam the porticullis, release crocodiles into the moat. The East Germans always said the purpose was to keep
all the westerners out. I guess that makes these people a little different, but
they are singularly unimaginative for sure.
Listen to them talk (as they do endlessly, on talk radio). No sense of unforeseen consequence whatsoever. Aren't walls and fences anachronistic in this age?
Possible counter-devices: a catapult
and the person wears a small parachute
or portable hangglider with wings that
spring out.
Remember the sports car that came through
Checkpoint Charlie with no windshield and
a man strapped to the undercarriage-- it was just low enough to clear the heavy boom barrier by one inch (didn't the designer use surveying equipment to obtain such a precise measurement?).
Tunnels, ladders-- humans are inventive when confronted with stupid obstacles.
It might take a while as someone earlier
suggested.
I'm all for them. I love to travel but can't-- dollar isn't worth enough. So I love to see foreigners right in this country. That's a kind of travel.
And if we build whale-sized catapults on this side we could shoot Lou Dobbs and
Rush Limbaugh the other way (Sorry, Mexico!).
Let's bring them out of the shadows then, WTF, and not keep them the slaves of corporate farmers or wealthy homeowners. After all, both can presumably afford to pay 'fair' wages. Besides, if they paid more for these jobs, Americans might even be willing to do them. Now there's a thought!
So, what about Organ Pipe National Monument, the Papago Indian Reservation, Big Bend National Park, and other places like this? Do they get their honking great pieces of concrete, buldozed terrain, and razer wire, too? This fence will have a HUGE impact on the environment and animal and plant communities.
Unfortunately, this fence will have very little no effect on drug runners (don't they all fly) or illegal aliens. Take a look at the photo that comes with this article. The original fence in San Diego did not work, so San Diego has TWO fences. People will definitely get pass the fence--with or without ladders...
There are good reasons why the People's Republic of China has only allocated enough money to the Great Wall to keep tourism going...
For those that get their panties in a twist over "illegal immigration", these are the very people that are keeping the US afloat. Without them, where will the food come from? Who will make your suburban garden prettier than the Jones'?
It is time to accept that Hispanic "illegals" have a better work ethic and moral fabric than the average American.
Maybe the true purpose of the wall is to keep US citizens in and not 'illegals' out, after all they have underground tunnels, don't they? :)
And if Kem is correct about an army rushing across the border when we hit hard times, why are we crying so hard for 'immigrant rights'? That simply does not make any sense. Or are our minds merely being manipulated on this issue (either pro or con) just like they are by big corps on the singer payer health care issue.
Might not be a bad idea to pause and ponder.
It's unfortunate that the people affected by immigration in the US are not the true source of the problem.
But in the end, a country (and the citizens within that country) that doesn't respect the integrity of other countries' borders doesn't deserve to have other countries (or their citizens) respect its territorial integrity.
Good thing we "triumphed" over "Communism" and got them to tear down that awful Berlin wall!! Good thing we're a nation of laws and not lead by some party official who does whatever is expedient!!
"God bless America, land that I love, stand beside her and guide her, to build a fence that can be seen from above."
While I am not in favor of building a fence to control our borders, something does need to be done to enforce the integrity of our borders. This is the 21st century. We have better high tech tools at our disposal. What we need is the national will to confront the issue. NO WALLS, But NO ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION EITHER.
Is it true that Mearsheimer and Walt's next book is a study of the influence of the wall lobby?
(Okay...sorry...it's April 2nd, and I'm late.)
Ladders Without Borders...
Did anyone know that Michael Chertoff is an Israeli-US citizen? And why is the head of homeland security an israeli? Expect more Palestinian type "security walls" around a neighborhood near you.
Be more like ten million ladder march when we have a depression.___ "We Remember The Alamo Too" ___ will be heard above the din of AK-47 gunfire and RPGs going off.
See where China is building an AK-47 factory in South America. One can buy one of those assault rifles in Africa for $ten dollars.
Border Fence Blamed For Falling Corn Prices
The Department of Agriculture has notified Congress of a study it performed this month showing that the border fence completed in 2008 is to blame for the sustained 25% drop in the price of US corn over the past two years. Producers anticipated much higher demand from Mexico, but apparently the loss of migratory worker income due to the fence has meant that Mexicans could not afford to pay for US corn so they started growing their own corn in their back yards and in public spaces in the Mexico City suburbs. The Department recommended that Congress double US taxpayer subsidies to keep US farmers afloat while the corn is dumped at half price to "re-hook" the Mexicans on US corn, or else bust open the border fence and let another fifty thousand or so migrants send a sufficient number of dollars back home to drive the corn price back up. Congress thought these were excellent "invisible hand" proposals if only they could be hidden from the press.
© 2010 The Los Angles Times
The fiat money printed to pay for the 670 mile border fence should economically dilute activities that truly serve the public interests. As long as Americans are occupied doing something stupid and wasteful, they will not be doing something that could truly benefit the society. This keeps distance between Americans and the full extent of their human potential. This keeps Americans enslaved to elites in the land of the free, home of the brave.
"A Million Ladder March."
The ladder factories in Mexico are way behind in orders.
Copying Israel's defense strategies is the stupidest thing any country could do.
It is a doomed state, completely self destructive.
So (as I say on my blog), evidently Skeletor has decided that to keep people from sneaking into our country and therefore BREAKING THE LAW, he has to, well, BREAK THE LAW.
Evidently two wrongs do make a right! Who knew?
I just wish all this money had been spent on something a little more practical, like building a stepladder to the Moon.
Hay! We have our own apartheid fence just like the Jews put up in Gaza and the West Bank. They put it through the homes of people that don't count just like our government has.
Who will build the fence? We live seven miles, as the buzzards and hawks fly, from the southern border. We know a lady who has a construction job working on the fence and she's in the six figure income bracket. She holds a measuring rod for the engineers and also directs traffic.
I do believe the fence is taking a lot of our tax money for the benefit of a very few. Imagine what the big-wigs are pocketing to put that useless fence up?
"Be afraid everybody, the Mexicans are coming in and stealing the jobs nobody else will do."
--Yes, that is the Big Lie. What should be added to make that statement correct: "is for a sub-living wage."
--I doubt many would have qualms about working a menial job, if that is what they had to do, and given that they are physically capable of performing those duties. However, if they cannot not survive on the wages proffered, what would is the point? Better to collect welfare and receive medical coverage along with it. Many of the poor in America get that.
What we need to do is strive for better labor laws, and a living wage for all jobs. Working 2 or 3 jobs just to make ends meet is not an option in the long run, as many (maybe most) cannot the stress of that. A life without balance, is generally a short and frazzled one.
As I heard one comedian comment, "who do you think they'll get to build the wall. I'm not going to work out in that sun all day."
Be afraid everybody, the Mexicans are coming in and stealing the jobs nobody else will do. Maybe they're bringing terror in with them, or maybe just a new perspective. Just keep being afraid and spending $$$ so the grand kings of the ruling class can continue to do whatever they want. This election brings no hope either - does anyone think it's a coincidence that Obama(our best choice of the few) can claim relation to 6 prior American Presidents? How many are you related to? The entire show is a fraud.
Gee, if the big guys can get away with not following the law, I guess a little peon like me surely can, too! Does this mean that it's OK for me to speed and cheat on my taxes now?
If Americans weren't so lazy, we'd be doing the jobs that we don't want to do.
We see what we wish to see, lino. Those of us married to immigrants have a unique perspective. Lou Dobbs may not be right about everything, but he is right about big corps shuttling most of the profits to the top, through outsourcing and other means.
For your info, I worked a labor intensive job right up until I hurt my back (fixing and delivering TV's). Then I re-trained as a computer tech, only to find many of those positions outsourced to the cheapest bidder as well.
Lino, without sensible regulation, capitalism will resort back to the days of the Robber Barons (read Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" if you get the chance). Without sensible regulation and labor unions, big corps will ALWAYS exploit the worker to shuttle profits to the top. How do they achieve this? By increasing the pool of cheap labor (in the past, and presently in other countries, even child labor).
Presently, the technique involves H1B visas (to recruit more qualified workers, such as engineers, from a cheaper labor pool), and by claiming there are no qualified workers in America to fill these jobs.
Another means they use is to hire illegals for construction (which generally pays fairly well for skilled trades), janitorial, food and hotel services, and other 'low-skilled' jobs. This is actually happening right under our noses on a large scale.
When people say: "jobs Americans won't do," it translates into "jobs businesses do not want to pay a living wage for." Even with argri-business, the huge profits go to the top. They could pay a higher wage without raising food prices too much (a report recently on CNN concluded that to pay $10 bucks an hour would only raise the average food bill about $100 per year). So when you repeat that phrase, you've bought into one of the major battle cries by big corps (of which the Chamber of Commerce is a part now) Insurance companies have thier own prhases to scare us away from a single payer health care system.
And then there's an issue of unfairness to LEGAL immigrants, who follow the laws, fill out the arduous paperwork, wait patiently, and pay the fees to get naturalized. If we allow 'illegals' to flock in and grant them 'amnesty' by bypassing this process, we create many more problems than we solve, do we not? Even if we do allow working Latinos to become citizens, where do we draw the line? How about asian and other immigrants, do we give them the same access too?
One more point here, and one I find VERY curious. Why are we not discussing making those businesses utilizing this cheap labor, while maximizing their profits, take greater responsibility for those they employ, much less fining and putting them out of business?
It's kinda like the issue of Wal-Mart paying low wages and encouraging workers to apply for food stamps and Medicaid, meaning that it is another kind of 'corporate welfare,' that we ALL pay for, one way or another. It may well be cheaper to pay that extra $100 per year for groceries.