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Press Release

LULAC and the Sierra Club Condemn Bush Administration’s Border Wall Waiver.

“Waiver threatens border communities and wildlife”.

April 3, 2008

For more information, contact:
Lizette Jenness Olmos, 202-833-6130 ext. 16
Oliver Bernstein, Sierra Club, (512) 289- 8618
 

Washington, DC The League of United Latin American Citizens’ (LULAC) and the Sierra Club’s combined membership and supporters of more than 1.3 million have joined forces to denounce Tuesday’s decision by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to issue a waiver of dozens of laws to expedite construction of a controversial 620 mile wall along the U.S. Mexico border.

“LULAC firmly believes that the waivers are unconstitutional and should be looked at by the U.S. Supreme Court,” said LULAC National President Rosa Rosales. “We agree with the Sierra Club that the destruction of the borderlands ecosystem is a serious matter and that the Department of Homeland Security should comply with environmental, cultural and local laws which are being compromised in the overzealous pursuit of border enforcement.”

Secretary Chertoff chose to bypass stakeholders and push through this unpopular project instead of continuing to consult with local communities or follow longstanding laws, a process which the department has already started.

The Department of Homeland Security has faced intense opposition from border communities and has had to go to court against more than 50 property owners simply to survey land for the fence.

In March, the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the challenge that such waivers are unconstitutional.

The Sierra Club's members and supporters are more than 1.3 million of your friends and neighbors. The Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization.

The League of United Latin American Citizens advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

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