Well, I'd heard some rumors, but today it became true. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff is going to use the waiver power given to him under little-known section 102 of the RealID Act to ignore all laws on the entire U.S.-Mexico border, so that the department can go ahead and build the border wall and not have to deal with any more legal challenges.
As of March 17, there were 309 miles of fencing in place, leaving 361 to be completed by the end of the year to meet the department's goal. Of those, 267 miles are being held up by federal, state and local laws and regulations, the officials said... building in some areas requires assessments and studies that — if conducted — could not be completed in time to finish the fence by the end of the year.
Basically, it's a big "fuck you" to Mexico and to all the U.S. citizens who live in the borderlands and elsewhere and who have repeatedly voiced opposition to this insane, racist, fascist, wasteful, useless plan.
Now's the time folks. If you give a damn about freedom, liberty, the rule of law, and/or separation of powers, let everyone know, including your congresspeople and senators. And make sure you use the word "Laws" not just "Rules," like the weasely AP article put it. We're talking about U.S. Federal LAWS, like the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Act, and dozens of others designed to protect the American people and that have been protecting them for decades - not just some miscellaneous "rules."
Stand up and be counted because if we let this happen, next time it might be martial law that they declare.
There's precedent, by the way, for stopping this sort of thing. The FCC has repeatedly done unilateral dumbass moves and then been slapped back down by Congress after a groundswell of constituent sentiment made it impossible to ignore. That's the kind of thing we need now.
Posted by steev at Abril 1, 2008 03:39 PM