Trump’s Border Barriers Survive California Environment Challenge

California can’t use a lack of environmental compliance to halt the Trump administration’s plans to construct border barriers near San Diego and Calexico, Calif., the Ninth Circuit ruled.

The projects may proceed because they are statutorily authorized and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security waived the applicable environmental laws, the court said.

In Federal Register notices issued in August and September 2017, the agency, citing the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), said it was waiving applicable environmental laws “with respect to the construction of roads and physical barriers.”

The state and several environmental groups—the Center ...