DHS Says Laws Are Optional When Building Texas Walls
Published Date: 11/25/2025
Notice
Summary
The Department of Homeland Security is speeding up the building of barriers and roads along the Texas border by temporarily skipping some usual rules and laws. This move helps stop illegal crossings and keeps the country safer, starting November 25, 2025. It affects border communities and aims to make border security faster and more effective without delay.
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Waiving Laws to Speed Texas Border Build
Starting November 25, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security will waive many federal and related state laws so it can immediately build barriers and roads in a project area of the El Paso Border Patrol Sector in Texas. The waiver covers access to project areas, use of staging areas, earthwork, excavation, fill, site preparation, and installation and upkeep of barriers, roads, drainage, erosion controls, lighting, cameras, and sensors in the area that runs from approximately the Texas–New Mexico State Line south and east along the Rio Grande to about GPS point 31.03, -105.57. Laws listed as waived include, for example, the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Clean Air Act.
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