Moving Forward to Secure the Border

Publication Date: April 2008

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): James Jay Carafano; Diem Nguyen

Research Area: Government; Population and demographics

Keywords: Homeland Security; Immigration; border security

Type: Brief

Coverage: Mexico

Abstract:

Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has issued two waivers of laws hindering barrier construction and security improvements on the border with Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already built 309 miles of border obstacles, and these waivers will facilitate improvements on about 500 miles of border infrastructure. One waiver addresses environmental and land management laws that applied to about 470 miles across four border states; the other addresses a 22-mile levee-border project in Hidalgo, Texas. The waivers were issued on April 1, 2008, and will become effective upon their publication in the Federal Register.