An effort by the state of California to block construction of President Trump’s proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has been dismissed.
A court decision on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel dismissed California officials’ and other pro-open borders groups’ claims that the Trump administration could not simply waive environmental laws in order to begin construction of the wall in California.
The Associated Press (AP) reports:
The challengers said a 2005 law that gave the Homeland Security secretary authority to waive the reviews had expired. The law exempted Homeland Security from dozens of laws if it deemed a wall to be in national security interests.
Department of Homeland Security Tyler Houlton praised the decision by the San Diego court, saying that border walls “have proven to be extremely effective in preventing the flow of drugs and illegal aliens across our borders.”
“Walls have worked in Yuma, Arizona and San Diego, California, where both areas have seen a 95 percent drop in attempted illegal border crossings,” Houlton said. “Simply put – walls work. The Department of Homeland Security looks forward to building the wall where our frontline operators say it is needed and in accordance with all applicable laws.”
The decision will allow the Trump administration to move forward on construction of the border wall, although the process to build the wall has been stuck in the prototype stage for nearly half a year with no clear vision of when the wall will actually be fully constructed and completed.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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