Thread: TX-Supreme Court rejects case on building of border fence

Updated: 1:12 p.m.

Supreme Court rejects Texas counties' plea to take case on building of border fence

1:12 PM EDT, June 15, 2009

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday refused to get involved in local Texas governments' fight against hundreds of miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The court rejected a challenge by El Paso and other counties to a lower court ruling dismissing a lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The local governments have argued that Napolitano's predecessor, Michael Chertoff, improperly waived 37 federal laws that could have slowed or blocked construction of fencing along the border that is intended to deter illegal immigrants.

El Paso County Attorney Jose Rodriguez said Monday that the local governments knew the case was something of a long shot — the high court previously turned away a legal challenge to the Homeland Security secretary's authority to speed up fence construction — but believed the lengthy court fight was worthwhile.

"Unfortunately the court didn't indicate why they denied ... so we'll never know, but we gave it our best shot," Rodriguez said. "And this litigation raised a lot of public awareness at the local, state and even national level about these issues about border security."

As the suit worked its way through the court system, most of the fencing in question was built.

Federal authorities have completed about 630 miles of the promised 670-miles-long vehicle and pedestrian fencing. Much of the unfinished portion is in south Texas, where residents and local governments have also been staunch opponents of the fencing authorized by Congress to help secure the border and slow illegal immigration. Congress gave Chertoff the power to waive the federal laws in 2005.

The future of much of the unfinished section of fencing is in limbo while a judge sorts through issues related to private property in the fence's path.

The case is County of El Paso v. Napolitano, 08-751.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/sns-ap ... 8495.story

Supreme Court rules in favor of U.S.-Mexico border fence
June 16, 4:30 PM

The Supreme Court rejected on Monday a legal challenge to the U.S. Homeland Security secretary's capability to decide the completion of a 500 mile-long fence on the United States - Mexico border, at the Arizona-Sonora perimeter.

The judicial instance refused to hear an appeal by two environmental groups challenging a 2005 law that former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff promoted to expedite border fence construction.

Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club presented the appeal to challenge the law in the grounds of a violation of the constitutional separation of powers principles, labeling it as an unconstitutional repeal of federal laws and as an unprecedented power grab.

In 2005, Congress gave Chertoff the authority to waive environmental and other laws in order to contribute to the national security strategy, including the power to revoke decrees and regulations obstructing efforts to secure the borders, such as those against the completion of fences and other barriers. Last April, Chertoff issued waivers for various projects across Mexico’s border with the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

In October of 2008, Chertoff issued a waiver in the Arizona case, after a federal judge had ruled a temporary suspension of further construction of the fence. The fence section in question is located in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, which biological diversity includes more than 250 species of migratory birds.

As the Supreme Court has denied the appeal, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimates this fence section will be finished by the end of 2009. The progress of the overall 500 miles-project in dispute, is nearly 93 percent complete, most of it erected in Arizona.

www.examiner.com

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