4.2.2008 7:24 AM

Alien Fervor Trumps Environmental Law

670-Mile Border Fence Exempt from Many Laws

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A new section of the U.S-Mexico border fence.

Photo: Guillermo Arias / AP Photo

By Dan Shapley

Whipped to a frenzy by the likes of Lou Dobbs, the nation is so concerned about illegal immigration from Mexico that the Homeland Security Department will build 670-miles of a border fence without first considering its environmental impact.

Congress, ultimately, is to blame. As with the Iraq war, it gave the executive branch authority that some members now wish it hadn't.

Sections of the border fence in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas will be built without considering the cost to the environment, historical preservation or personal property rights. Among the likely casualties of the decision: The critically endangered ocelot, which now roams freely across the border.

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