June 2, 2008
Editor's note: The following news release was sent from the county late Monday. You can view the lawsuit via the link below the article.
Attorneys from the law-firm Mayer Brown LLP today filed a lawsuit on behalf of the County of El Paso against U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Michael Chertoff challenging waivers of federal, state, and local laws issued to facilitate the construction of physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The lawsuit was filed this afternoon in federal court in El Paso, Texas. Honorable Frank Montalvo, U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Texas, will be presiding.
Other plaintiffs include:
• City of El Paso
• El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1
• Hudspeth County Conservation And Reclamation District No. 1
• Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo (Tigua Tribe)
• Frontera Audubon Society (Nonprofit Environmental Organization)
• Friends Of The Wildlife Corridor (Nonprofit Wildlife Protection Organization)
• Friends Of Laguna Atascosa Refuge (Nonprofit Environmental Organization)
• Mark Clark (Owner of historical building affected by construction of the border wall)
The lawsuit challenges Secretary Chertoff's statutory authority to issue waivers of more than 30 federal laws, as well as any state and local laws related to such federal laws, to accelerate the construction of a border fence. The suit alleges such waivers are unconstitutional because they represent an illegal delegation of Congress' constitutional powers to Secretary Chertoff, in violation of Article 1, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution and constitutional principles of separation of powers.
Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction asking the Court to bar the Department of Homeland Security from proceeding with the construction of the fence until the government has complied with all applicable laws.
No date has yet been set for a hearing on the case.