Two lawsuits over the Trump administration’s illicit attempt to channel billions of dollars into a military construction project for the border barrier closed Monday after the Biden administration, environmental activists and 18 states agreed to a settlement. bottom.
As part of the 65-page agreement, the Department of Homeland Security will halt further construction of the border wall using the funds, return more than $427 million in military construction funds to the state, and rehabilitate construction sites. , agreed to provide funds to protect thousands of acres of land. California customs.
California’s attorney general said Trump’s border wall was “a relic of the past.”
DHS also created openings in the border walls near protected landscapes in Arizona and New Mexico to allow several endangered species, including the northern jaguar and Sonoran pronghorn, to move across the U.S.-Mexico border. They also agreed to install it and leave the storm gate open. And finally, the agency said it would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to follow federal law before proceeding with new construction projects, including stadium lighting.
Damages from Trump border construction range from increased risk of flooding and landslides to destroying or disturbing native crafts and remains, according to a government document provided to reporters by environmentalists on Monday.See sidebar).
When Congress refused to fund the Trump administration’s efforts in 2017, the administration ignored lawmakers and expropriated billions of dollars from the Pentagon’s counter-narcotics operations, adding another $3.6 billion to funding military construction. It was transferred under a vague provision known as Federal Law Section 2808. The president could use the National Emergency Act to authorize military construction projects in support of the U.S. military.
With the money in hand, the administration has rushed to build the border wall that the former president has touted for years, and by January 2021, CBP will have built a 452-mile border wall, primarily a 30-foot-tall steel bollard. was filled with concrete.
However, much of this effort simply replaced “old or outdated” designs. The agency added just 77 miles of a new “primary” wall and 53 miles of a “secondary wall” to the southwest. About 351 miles of obsolete barriers have been replaced with taller walls, along with 34 miles of “secondary” walls.
Overall, the Trump administration sought to spend as much as $100 million per mile in building what CBP called the “border wall system.” This includes not only 30-foot-tall “bollard” wall panels topped with steel “anti-climb plates,” but also border patrol vehicles to quickly move people through the new barriers. It also has lights, sensors and a road network to make it easier to track.
Unable to quickly gobble up private and state lands, the administration instead turned to federal reserves, including hundreds of acres across Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties, the Cabesa Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cacti. Inspired National Monument, Sun Mountains. Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, and San Pedro Riverbanks National Refuge, he one of the last “free-flowing” rivers in the country.
And the effort came despite multiple lawsuits filed by Congress, environmental and human rights groups, and protests in six locations by members of the Tohono O’Dum Nation and other activists.
The Southern Border Communities Coalition, backed by the Sierra Club and the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the Trump administration over the border wall. Separate lawsuits include California and New Mexico after President Trump’s defense secretary authorized the diversion of billions of dollars from nearly 128 military construction projects worth about $500 million. Eighteen states have filed their own lawsuits.
A U.S. district court has rejected the Trump administration’s claims for three years, and in October 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of states and environmental groups, and federal law ruled against military construction by the White House. He said the forced levy of $100 million was not allowed. In a two-to-one ruling, the three-judge panel also agreed to uphold the lower court’s permanent injunction, allowing the government to build on projects in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. effectively prevented the continuation of
In its ruling, the court said that while Section 2808 of the Federal Law “allows the Secretary of Defense to undertake military construction projects in the event of a national emergency requiring the use of military forces,” the statute ” Such projects are defined as follows.” was necessary to support such use of force,” the judge wrote. However, the use of 2808 funds for the construction of the 175-mile border wall violated “two of the statutory requirements, namely that it was not required to support military use and that it was not a military construction project.” They were not satisfied, they wrote.
Federal officials “failed to establish that the project was necessary to support the use of the military,” the court said. The reason is, “Administrative records indicate that the border wall project is intended to support and benefit a private agency, the Department of Defense (DHS). Secondly, , the Trump administration “has not established, or even claimed, that these projects are actually necessary to support the use of the military.”
The Supreme Court considered these cases but declined to rule on the legality of using Section 2808 funds for the border wall. Instead, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that construction could proceed while the case was pending.
On his first day in office in January 2021, President Joe Biden lifted President Trump’s national emergency declaration. Both cases had gone to the Supreme Court, but Biden’s decision removed both cases from the court’s hearing schedule and returned them to the lower courts.
advocate a supportive settlement
ACLU Deputy Attorney General Cecilia Wang said, “President Trump’s border wall construction went against the will of Congress, was ruled illegal by a federal court, and is devastating to the natural resources and communities of the U.S.-Mexico border region. It caused serious damage,” he said. Wang led the Sierra Club lawsuit against the Trump administration.
“This settlement agreement provides a measure of accountability and serves as a lasting reminder that government policy driven by fear-mongering rather than good policy-making ultimately undermines national interests. It should be,” Wang said.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “The border wall with President Trump is officially a relic of the past and it is there.” “Environmental mitigation projects to protect the delicate ecosystems along the U.S.-Mexico border are in full swing, confirming the recovery of more than $427 million in funding for military construction projects, today’s settlement It marks a new beginning, and I appreciate the efforts of the Biden administration.” Work with us in good faith to make this announcement possible. ”
“When the former president didn’t get his way, he evaded Congress and illegally used funds to support military personnel to build a border wall, ranging from damage to tribal lands to degradation of wildlife habitat. Until then, border communities will continue to deal with this issue,” said Sierra Club border coordinator Eric Meza. “The impact of this thug will continue for years to come.” . “The Sierra Club Borderlands Program has been working to protect these fragile landscapes for over a decade. I am happy that.”
Meza added that the remediation measures included in the settlement are “important to heal the communities, landscapes and ecosystems affected by the reckless actions of the previous government.”
As part of the settlement, DHS will fund more than $427 million for plaintiffs’ military construction projects in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Wisconsin. will be returned. The agency also donated $25 million to the state of California to help environmental groups purchase up to 1,200 acres of land near the border, including several animals including peninsular bighorn sheep, Sonoran desert pronghorns, and Mexican gray wolves. It will provide $1.1 million to fund an endangered species monitoring program. , ocelot, jaguar.
In addition, DHS agreed to set up 20 “smaller wildlife trails” across the border, as well as four “larger wildlife trails” in Arizona and New Mexico. Most of the pass will be 7 feet by 5 feet, but some sections will be 18 feet high, according to the settlement. One walkway is planned to cut through a wall near the Cabesa Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Pinta Sands to allow passage of Sonoran pronghorns, and another in Arizona will be built in the Perilla Mountains in Cochise County, where jaguars and black bears can be seen in the United States. and will be able to cross the Mexican border. .
The agency also kept eight storm gates open to allow animals to cross borders, including two at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the San Pedro Riverbank Preserve, and the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge. also agreed to do so.
In addition, future DHS border wall projects must follow federal environmental processes under the National Environmental Policy Act to notify environmental groups when authorities need to close walkways or storm gates.
DHS retains its rights to install “wildlife-friendly alternative infrastructure” and systems to “detect unauthorized entry into the United States.” However, the agency ruled out the use of bellows or “razor wire.” In some cases, barbed wire fences may be used to prevent cattle from crossing the southern US border.
Finally, DHS also said it would work to reduce the environmental impact of the lighting installed near the Andrade border crossing in Yuma County. The lights will be on at night, the agency said, but will use LED lighting to concentrate the light on the circuit roads and “avoid upward light leakage to the maximum extent practicable.”
The settlement does not reveal whether DHS will handle the more than 1,800 stadium lights installed across the Yuma Valley, which crosses most of the Arizona-Mexico border. The Tucson-based Center for Biodiversity will either remove them or show how light pollution from 500 watts of lighting can dramatically change the behavior of endangered and endangered species in the region, ‘habitat It urges government agencies to consider whether it could have a devastating effect on the division of The border wall stretches to the sky. ”
The lights will emit an estimated 50,000 lumens, or “significantly brighter than standard city street lights,” according to the group, and will illuminate borderland nature reserves and wildlife reserves.
In addition, authorities may continue mitigation efforts and, in some cases, may continue to build new barriers, including a project launched last year to fill a gap in the wall near Yuma. Efforts remain questionable.
Ricky Garza, an attorney with the Southern Border Communities Coalition, said: “This settlement is designed not only to hold the U.S. government accountable for its abuses of power, but also to protect the human rights of all border residents equally under the law. there is,” he said. “While nothing can undo the lasting damage caused by years of wall construction across the Southwest, this settlement takes an important step toward remediation, including mandatory consultations and environmental impact assessments. and this is a measure that could open the door to the removal of the DHS blanket exemption.” Engaging in consultations is an important step forward for the U.S. government toward better governance.”
“But the battle is not over and there is a long way to go before governments recognize the humanity and dignity of all border residents and give us the respect we deserve,” Garza said.
