STATEMENT: Sierra Club Disappointed in Decision Favoring Trump Border Wall

San Diego, CA-- Today, Judge Gonzalo Curiel ruled on the side of the Trump administration in their effort to waive environmental laws to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall in California. The decision will expedite border wall construction in delicate habitat and on public lands.  

In response, Sierra Club Managing Attorney Gloria Smith released the following statement:

“The effects of these waivers and the destruction of a border wall will be long-lasting and detrimental for border communities.

“Waiving these bedrock and bipartisan laws has resulted in flooding in places like Nogales where people lost their lives. The waivers have driven destruction in Native American burial sites. They have killed thousands of species and fragmented habitat. Most concerningly, there is zero accountability or consequence for these outcomes.

“The biggest problem with waiving laws is not judicial or philosophical, it is concrete. The laws that are swept aside are not merely red tape. They are critical protections that were put in place for a reason-- to protect people, their communities, and the environment that we depend upon.”