Houston, Oct 5 (UNI) Facing the fresh surge of migrants influx, the White House has waived 26 federal laws to allow border wall construction in Starr County, southern Texas, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Wednesday.
It marks a U-turn of the Biden administration since building the border wall was a signature promise by former President Donald Trump in his 2016 campaign and has been fiercely criticized by the Democrats since then. President Joe Biden halted the construction during his first week in the White House in Jan. 2021.
“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,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a notice posted on the U.S. Federal Register, an office that prepares and publishes a wide variety of public documents.
Mayorkas said he is using his authority provided by Congress to waive these laws, including the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act.
