{"id":606245,"date":"2018-07-24T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=606245"},"modified":"2018-07-23T15:35:03","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T21:35:03","slug":"dozens-of-groups-ask-trump-administration-for-more-time-to-comment-on-border-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/07\/dozens-of-groups-ask-trump-administration-for-more-time-to-comment-on-border-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of groups ask Trump administration for more time to comment on border wall"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_560020\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-560020\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/CBP_Wall_2_JA_TT-771x497.jpg\" alt=\"Border Patrol agents\" width=\"771\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/CBP_Wall_2_JA_TT-771x497.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/CBP_Wall_2_JA_TT-336x217.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/CBP_Wall_2_JA_TT-768x495.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/CBP_Wall_2_JA_TT.jpg 1132w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Juli\u00e1n Aguilar \/ The Texas Tribune<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Border Patrol agents in New Mexico on April 9.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>More than three dozen environmental, faith-based and immigrant rights groups are urging the federal government to\u00a0extend the public-comment period for construction of the border wall, arguing that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security isn\u2019t acting in good faith.<\/p>\n<p>The allegations come as the Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to build at least 33 miles of wall or other barriers in the Rio Grande Valley.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article originally appeared in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/07\/23\/border-wall-environmental-immigration-trump-comment-period\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Texas Tribune<\/a>,\u00a0a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&#8220;[Custom and Border Patrol&#8217;s] 30-day comment period, without even a single public meeting, strongly suggests\u00a0a lack of sincere interest in obtaining thoughtful comments and broad engagement with the diverse\u00a0constituencies affected by border barrier construction,&#8221; the coalition of organizations wrote in a letter dated Monday to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner\u00a0Kevin McAleenan and other federal officials. &#8220;Additionally, because many community\u00a0members in the project area speak primarily Spanish, we ask that CBP send out invitations to\u00a0comment on this project in Spanish.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The government is also<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>side-stepping regulations mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act and only reaching out to certain stakeholders, according to Laiken Jordahl, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/admin\/stories\/story\/add\/Carla%20L.%20Provost%20Acting%20Chief%20-%20U.S.%20Border%20Patrol\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Center for Biological Diversity\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0border campaign leader.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot all the groups that signed on to our letter received that invitation to comment and that\u2019s something we\u2019re really concerned about. They specifically chose who they wanted to send it to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Jordahl added that it\u2019s unclear when the comment period began or ends. He said his center received a letter from federal officials on July 10 that stated it had 30 days to respond. But the letter wasn&#8217;t dated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is some confusion as to when the deadline actually is. And I know different people received letters on different dates,\u201d he said.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Other groups that signed onto the letter include\u00a0the ACLU Border Rights Center, La Uni\u00f3n del Pueblo Entero, the Sierra Club and the Hidalgo County Wildlands Network. The groups are asking that the comment period extend to 90 days and that more stakeholders be notified of what the government is proposing. They also argue that federal officials aren\u2019t following current guidelines for constructing in environmentally sensitive or protected areas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFinally, we are deeply concerned that this solicitation for public comment does not meet the standards for public consultation that the National Environmental Policy Act sets forth,\u201d the letter states. \u201cThe NEPA process is a clear and well-established method of soliciting public comment, for which there is no substitute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A CBP spokesperson said in an email the agency would review the groups\u2019 letter and the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol sector \u201cwill continue to communicate the local communities and other organizations in the Rio Grande Valley on this important Border Security project.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jordahl noted that the DHS hasn\u2019t yet waived environmental reviews and other laws for the Texas portion of the wall\u2019s construction, as it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/nation\/homeland-security-will-waive-environmental-reviews-laws-build-u-s-border-wall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has already done<\/a>\u00a0in California and <a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/04\/border-patrol-kicks-off-construction-of-trumps-wall-in-nm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New Mexico<\/a>. But he said maybe that\u2019s what\u2019s coming later if federal officials stay on their current course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat they are not engaging in meaningful NEPA [policies] suggests they might be planning to issue a waiver in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cThey know that the public opposes these border walls.\u201d<script async src=\"https:\/\/cdn.texastribune.org\/pixel\/dot.min.29c708b3d0da5d17a725.js\" integrity=\"sha384-8Xwf\/TlQnmHiajg1t3dn8w4qlF1rmV33o5NAQVXYu0T2q3rHV5579zrSmRjh+XnM\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\" data-tt-canonical=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/07\/23\/border-wall-environmental-immigration-trump-comment-period\/\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The allegations come as the Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to build at least 33 miles of wall or other barriers in the Rio Grande Valley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":560020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[140,147],"class_list":["post-606245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}