Since being elected, Donald Trump has already broken a plethora of campaign promises. He’s walked back on his promise to put Hillary Clinton in jail as well as his promise to “drain the swamp,” stocking his cabinet full of lobbyists and billionaires/corporate insiders. But on top of all of this, most of Trump’s broken promises relate to the wall he swore he’d have built along the Mexican border.
His supporters were probably the only ones who actually believed he’d successfully enlist Mexico to pay for the wall’s construction, only to be hit with the cold reality that it will actually be built on their dime as taxpayers, on top of probably losing their healthcare, too.
Most recently, according to some analysts, Trump could even be forced to walk back on his promise to build the wall as a whole.
Gavin Newsom, Lt. Governor of California, told The Golden State podcast last week that various environmental regulations on a state and federal level could prevent the construction of the wall. Citing the CEQA (California Environmental Quality Ac) in California as well as the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act), Newsom said:
“There’s indigenous lands and autonomies relating to governance on those lands. There are all kinds of obstructions as it relates to just getting zoning approval and getting building permits. All those things could be made very, very challenging for the administration.”
CA Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom Says He Knows How to Stop Trump’s Border Wall https://t.co/M5HBiIk44e pic.twitter.com/JRl4jZNVwm
— CitizenSlant (@CitizenSlant) January 10, 2017
Additionally, Newsom clarified to ATTN: that he does not think he’ll ever even have to cite said laws to shut down the construction of the wall, calling it a “stupid idea” that’s “simply never going to happen” and isn’t worth thinking a whole lot about. “It’s logistically impossible to build, and it’s a laughable proposal that Mexico is going to pay for it,” Newsom said.
Jeffrey Romm, a professor of environmental science, policy and Management at the University of California Berkeley also told ATTN: that, specifically, “transboundary wildlife mobility, direct landscape transformations in construction and possible influences on water flows and qualities” could be just some of the environmental factors that prevent the wall from being built.
While the Supreme Court has historically sided against environmental groups and favored efforts to build additional fencing along the border, environmental regulations already in place could delay the construction of the wall to the extent that Trump is no longer even in office by the time a decision is reached.
Trump’s passionate calls to build the wall largely stem from his deeply inaccurate perceptions of immigrants, and his dehumanizing portrayals of undocumented immigrants as criminals, killers, and “rapists” who must be kept out via a physical wall. On top of being a divisive waste of taxpayer dollars which would be better served ensuring Americans healthcare, the wall could also be an environmental hazard, and this will hopefully be its undoing.
Featured image: Gage Skidmore
Leave a Reply