Chertoff Waives Laws To Build Border Fence

WASHINGTON (AP) – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has used his power to bypass environmental laws so he can restart construction of a fence on the Arizona-Mexico border.

Chertoff’s action made public on Monday allows construction to go forward on about seven miles of fence in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area near Naco, Arizona. Work on nearly two miles of the fence has been suspended since Oct. 10.

On that day, a judge ordered a delay on its construction. She ruled the federal government had not fully studied the environmental impact of the fence.

Congress gave Chertoff the power to waive environmental and other laws to build border barriers when it passed the REAL ID Act in 2005.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)