The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it will waive environmental laws in order to finish its 670-mile-long fence along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of 2008. The waivers will apply to land stretching from California to Texas and will facilitate construction of fencing, towers, sensors, cameras, and roads. Homeland Security has already issued waivers for three portions of fence in Arizona and California. Green activists, who have decried the fence’s impact on endangered ocelots and fragile habitat, are dismayed. Says Brian Segee of Defenders of Wildlife, “It’s dangerous, it’s arrogant, it’s going to have pronounced environmental impacts, and it won’t do a thing to address the problems of undocumented immigrants or address border security problems.” But hey, other than that …
