BORDER WALL: BROADEST WAIVER OF LAW IN AMERICAN HISTORY

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law examines the legal history and environmental impact of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, focusing on the unprecedented authority granted to the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive all legal requirements to expedite construction.

• The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 granted the Attorney General the authority to waive provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act to ensure the 'expeditious construction of the barriers and roads'.
• The Real ID Act provided the Secretary of Homeland Security with unprecedented authority to waive all legal requirements, not just environmental laws, at the Secretary's sole discretion. This provision was added as a rider to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief and signed into law on May 11, 2005.
• The Secure Fence Act of 2006 directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to construct at least two layers of reinforced fencing and other physical barriers in five specific areas across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, totaling approximately 850 miles.
• Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff utilized the Real ID Act's waiver authority to exempt construction from numerous laws. By April 1, 2008, waivers covered an estimated 470 miles across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, exempting a wide array of environmental, historic preservation, and religious freedom laws.
• Legal challenges to the Real ID Act's waiver provision, such as Defenders of Wildlife v. Chertoff (2008), argued that the delegation of authority violated the Constitution's separation of powers. The Supreme Court denied the petition for a writ of certiorari on June 23, 2008.
• Construction of the border wall has led to significant environmental and social damage, including the destruction of sacred sites on the Tohono O’Odham nation reservation and hydrological issues in Nogales, Mexico, where a U.S.-placed barrier exacerbated a July 2008 flood that caused $8 million in damage and two deaths.
• The cost of constructing the wall has increased significantly from an initial estimate of $3.3 million per mile. According to the General Accountability Office, the pedestrian wall now averages between $3.9 and $7.5 million per mile, with some specific areas in southern California costing over $16 million per mile.

APA

Bear, D. (2009). BORDER WALL: BROADEST WAIVER OF LAW IN AMERICAN HISTORY. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BorderWall_8Feb09.pdf

Chicago

Bear, Dinah. BORDER WALL: BROADEST WAIVER OF LAW IN AMERICAN HISTORY. Center for International Environmental Law, 2009. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BorderWall_8Feb09.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bear |first1=Dinah |title=BORDER WALL: BROADEST WAIVER OF LAW IN AMERICAN HISTORY |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=February 2009 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BorderWall_8Feb09.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bear2009border, author = {Bear, Dinah}, title = {{BORDER WALL: BROADEST WAIVER OF LAW IN AMERICAN HISTORY}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2009}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BorderWall_8Feb09.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }