Feds Will Skip Border Wall Impact Study Before Building Through Wildlife Refuge
There's a loophole in the Real ID Act that says Homeland Security doesn't have to honor the Endangered Species Act. I'm serious.
By Anya Byrd, Colorlines (2.5 minute read) 
Though funding for the estimated $21.6 billion U.S.-Mexico wall has not yet been secured, the federal government continues to move forward with construction. In the latest development, the Trump Administration intends to invoke a 2005 anti-terror law to avoid conducting an border wall impact study review of the impact the wall will have on a national wildlife refuge.
Per the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), environmental impact studies are required for large-scale projects. But Reuters reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will use the REAL ID Act to bypass having to conduct one, according to two government sources.
The REAL ID Act was passed in 2005 on recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. It allows the secretary of Homeland Security to exempt CBP from adhering to the Endangered Species Act if the project is a matter of national security. The border wall, a significant component of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, has been touted by the president as a way to effectively stop illegal activity—including drug smuggling—at the southern border.
