Redstate

Posted at 9:11pm on Apr. 3, 2008 Chertoff Won't Let Enviros Stop Border Fence

670 miles to be completed by end of year

By Bluey

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is taking heat from liberals and winning praise from conservatives for standing up to environmentalists who want to halt construction of the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a wide-ranging interview a handful of bloggers yesterday, Chertoff said his department was on target to build the congressionally mandated 670 miles of fence by the end of the year -- 370 pedestrian and 300 vehicle. Doing so would ensure that the next administration won't be able to derail the plan.

This week Chertoff announced he would bypass the National Environmental Policy Act and 30 other laws that could have delayed construction. Environmentalists managed to bring construction to a crawl during a previous fence project -- it took 14 years to build 11 miles of fence near San Diego. "That's basically a mile a year," Chertoff said. "At that rate if we were going to cover what we need to cover at the border it would be seven centuries. We do not have that long to wait."

Chertoff's promise to complete the fence comes at a time when Congress is considering a new round of immigration legislation. Chertoff appeared unconvinced that anything substantive would pass this year, but he indicated the ball would be in Congress' court.

During yesterday's interview, Chertoff also spoke about implementing Real ID and dispelling myths about a national ID card. Earlier this week, Chertoff's department secured a promise from one final holdout, Maine, to enact tougher licensing requirements in exchange for a waiver on Real ID compliance.

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