The Independent View: California Sues Over Border Wall Project Waivers

In its ongoing War with the President Trump over Immigration Policy, California Sued the Administration Wednesday over the Planned Border Wall. The Lawsuit alleges that in its haste to Build the “big, beautiful” Wall that Trump promised during his Campaign, the Administration has Failed to follow both State and Federal Environmental Law. Lawyers involved in the Lawsuit said they haven’t yet asked for an Injunction that would Block Progress on the Wall, including Prototype Construction in San Diego, until the Court can hear the Case, but they are keeping the Option open.

After filing the 53-page Complaint with the Federal Court’s Southern District on Wednesday morning, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra headed to San Diego’s Border Field State Park, which already has Two Layers of Fencing along the Border, to make the announcement. “No one gets to ignore the laws, not even the president of the United States. In California, we make every effort to follow the rules.”

The Trump Administration has said it would use a Waiver to Skip Environmental Reviews normally required for such Projects. California’s Lawsuit says the Power to use the Waiver expired at the end of 2008. The Lawsuit also questions whether such Waivers are Constitutional, arguing that the Executive Branch shouldn’t be able to ignore State Laws. “The border between the U.S. and Mexico spans some 2,000 miles,” Becerra said. “The list of laws violated by the president’s administration in order to build his campaign wall is almost as long.” He said the Administration would have to waive 37 Federal Statutes as well as numerous State and Local Laws to Proceed with Construction on its current schedule.

The California Coastal Commission, which has been around since 1972 and is charged with Regulating Construction in the State’s Coastal Regions, voted in August to ask Becerra to Sue. Steve Padilla, a Chula Vista Councilman who was appointed to the Commission earlier this year, said that California has a Bipartisan history of protecting its Coastal Region. The Commission should be allowed to Review the Border Wall Project before it proceeds, he said. “There’s a whole set of standards that deal with environmental protection,” Padilla said. “In this case, they’re just being swept aside unnecessarily.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was also in San Diego on Wednesday, did not seem concerned by the Lawsuit. “In the United States anybody can sue,” Sessions said. “The United States of America has a border. The United States government has control of that border and a responsibility to secure it. We would expect to be fully successful in moving forward with our border wall as Congress gives us the money to do so.”

Peter Nunez, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California and Board Member for an Immigration Restrictionist Think Tank that has supported Trump’s Immigration Policies, said he doesn’t think California’s Lawsuit will succeed in Stopping the Border Wall. Environmental Groups filed Lawsuits over previous Border Fencing Projects, he said. “It’s the same old arguments,” Nunez said. “They ended up delaying the process but not ending it. We have a fence because all those arguments were found to be specious. This is open border advocates using environmental laws or anything else they can find to stop the process.”

Nunez believes the Trump Administration is following the Law. “I’m sure the federal government is perfectly capable of understanding the law and following it without the attorney general of the state of California telling them what they’re required to do,” Nunez said.

The San Diego City Council voted Tuesday to Oppose the Wall. San Diego has already been Negatively affected by the existing Fences along the Border. Any Future Walls will have an Impact on the Environment and Quality of Life of San Diegans, there is need for investments in our border relationship, but certainly not a Wall.

Environmental Groups already have Two other Lawsuits pending over the Proposed Border Wall. Lawyers from Becerra’s Office anticipated that the Court will consolidate all the Lawsuits before hearing them.