Environmentalists decried the move that will forego dozens of laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to evaluate the effects of their actions on the environment.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued the first waiver of the administration to speed President Trump’s border wall, bypassing environmental regulations to aid construction. The waiver

The Department of Homeland Security gave U.S. Customs and Border Protection permission to ignore environmental and land regulations and immediately begin constructing a border wall between the United States and Mexico in Southern California,