STATEMENT: Environmental, Health Waivers for Border Wall Must Be Ruled Illegal

Pasadena, CA-- Today, attorneys for the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and California Attorney General’s office argued before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the Trump administration illegally waived dozens of laws to build replacement walls and prototypes south of San Diego. The appeal challenged the administration’s use of the long-expired waiver provisions to sweep aside more than 30 laws that protect clean air, clean water, public lands and endangered wildlife.

In response, Sierra Club Managing Attorney Gloria Smith released the following statement:

 “The effects of these waivers and the destruction of a border wall have proven to be long-lasting and detrimental for border communities.

“Waiving the country’s bedrock environmental and public health laws has resulted in flooding in places like Nogales where people have lost millions of dollars in property damage. A few even lost their lives in border wall-related flooding. The waivers have caused irreversible damage at Native American burial sites, and studies show that walls have a negative impact on many species and fragment precious habitat. And still, there is zero accountability or consequence for all of this damage.

“Waiving these longstanding protections is not philosophical or legalistic harm, it results in  concrete injury. The laws that are swept aside are not red tape. They are critical protections that were put in place for a reason-- to protect people, communities, and the environment that we depend upon.”