SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A judge has ruled that the government can continue waiving environmental laws to proceed with construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Judge Gonzalo Curiel issued the ruling Tuesday afternoon. The ruling allows 14 miles of border wall to be built southeast of San Diego.
The ruling comes one day after the Washington Post reported that President Trump will visit border wall prototypes in mid-March.
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In early February, ABC News reported that the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to protect endangered butterflies.
Environmentalists claim the Quino checkerspot butterfly and a number of other species could be in danger if construction of the border wall continues.
“We intend to appeal this disappointing ruling, which would allow Trump to shrug off crucial environmental laws that protect people and wildlife,” said Brian Segee, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.
“The Trump administration has completely overreached its authority in its rush to build this destructive, senseless wall. They’re giving unprecedented, sweeping power to an unelected agency chief to ignore dozens of laws and crash through hundreds of miles of spectacular borderlands. This is unconstitutional and shouldn’t be allowed to stand.”
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California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that "A medieval wall along the U.S.-Mexico border simply does not belong in the 21st century.”
Read the full statement below:
“We remain unwavering in our belief that the Trump Administration is ignoring laws it doesn’t like in order to resuscitate a campaign talking point of building a wall on our southern border. We will evaluate all of our options and are prepared to do what is necessary to protect our people, our values, and our economy from federal overreach. A medieval wall along the U.S.-Mexico border simply does not belong in the 21st century.”
