DHS clears way to build border wall across New Mexico

LAS CRUCES — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is once again waiving a raft of laws protecting wildlife, archaeological preservation and environmental protections in order to expedite border wall construction in New Mexico.

The new project area, as described in a notice of determination scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Wednesday, appears to span New Mexico’s border with Mexico almost in its entirety, including areas where border barriers already stand.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem waived portions of 27 federal statutes to streamline construction of border wall, roads, drainage and other infrastructure, as well as cameras and sensors.

Rather than use latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates to designate the project area, the notice refers to a system of border markers, in this case stating that the new project would begin “at approximately Border Monument 49 and extending north and then east to Border Monument 1,” or from New Mexico’s Bootheel in Hidalgo County bordering Chihuahua, Mexico, tracing the international boundary approximately 140 miles to the American Dam in El Paso, Texas.

The project map draws a line beneath most of the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector, which encompasses New Mexico and West Texas, which the federal notice describes as “an area of high illegal entry where illegal aliens regularly attempt to enter the United States and smuggle illicit drugs.”

“It’s a massive waiver,” Laiken Jordahl, southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Journal. “Much of the area is already walled, but the area running north-south near the Big Hatchets is all unwalled. This area is also extremely important for endangered Mexican gray wolves, which have been documented moving through this area with radio collar data.”

Noem characterized Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector as “an area of high illegal entry,” citing agency data to state that agents had apprehended 1.2 million people for unauthorized entry to the United States between October 2021 and this past July.

”In that same time period, Border Patrol seized over 14,468 pounds of marijuana, over 1,347 pounds of cocaine, over 42 pounds of heroin, over 3,086 pounds of methamphetamine, and over 254 pounds of fentanyl,” Noem stated.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to queries from the Journal.

While agency data showed Southwest borderland encounters at record lows during the current fiscal year, Noem said the El Paso Sector remained a hot spot for drug trafficking by foreign nationals.

In the past, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has responded to border wall construction by calling on federal agencies to consult with state and local officials for the health and safety of communities and natural systems.

“The governor’s position has not changed,” Michael Coleman, a spokesperson for the governor, told the Journal on Tuesday. “While she would welcome — and has requested additional Border Patrol agents and technology to secure the border dating back to the Biden administration — she opposes the construction of an exorbitantly expensive wall along the border that will divide communities, harm wildlife and fail to address longstanding problems with our nation’s immigration system.”

Instead, Coleman said the governor supports comprehensive immigration reform “that will create fundamental change that improves the situation on both sides of the border.”

Jordahl said the new waiver “would destroy one of the last truly wild places in New Mexico and turn cherished public lands into even more of a militarized zone.”

In a written statement, Jordahl said the vast desert valleys and the 18-mile Big Hatchet Mountain range in the Bootheel “are home to bighorn sheep, mountain lions and countless migratory species. These animals and irreplaceable landscapes need protection more than ever, but a border wall here will tear apart wildlife populations.”

The action follows the establishment in April of a 60-foot-wide buffer zone along New Mexico’s stretch of the border, designated a “National Defense Area” for the U.S. Army’s Joint Task Force — Southern Border.

In August, Noem visited Santa Teresa to highlight the Trump administration’s investments in border security and law enforcement. The budget reconciliation bill enacted this summer includes a $165 billion appropriation to Homeland Security with $45.5 billion earmarked for border wall construction.

“A nation without borders is no nation at all,” Noem said during that appearance, “and we’re so thankful that we have a president who understands that and understands that a secure border is important to our country’s future.”