The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is waiving 26 federal laws to finish completing a wall in the Rio Grande Valley in an area where it halted construction over two years ago. It announced the change in the Federal Register on Thursday after receiving pressure from Democratic elected officials.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in the six-page filing with the Federal Register, “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,” citing sections of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
He said he “has determined, pursuant to law, that it is necessary to waive certain laws, regulations, and other legal requirements in order to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads in the vicinity of the international land border in Starr County, Texas.”
The statement notes that the Rio Grande Valley Sector is an area of “high illegal entry.” Border Patrol agents there have apprehended over 245,000 foreign nationals illegally entering in the southernmost part of Texas between ports of entry fiscal year through early August, it states. Since then, at least another 46,913 and 46,000 were apprehended in August and September, respectively, according to preliminary data obtained by The Center Square. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
