Judge rules that Biden admin violated environmental law in halt of border wall construction

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A federal judge ruled in favor of a southern border rancher who had argued that the Biden administration had violated environmental law in its "haste to reverse its predecessor's border policies" in 2021.

An Arizona rancher, Steven Smith, was part of the lawsuit, Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, challenging the Biden administration. The suit claimed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had failed to conduct a mandatory review required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before halting border wall construction, a key Trump-era project.

Under NEPA, a federal agency must conduct an Environmental Assessment to determine whether a federal action has the potential to cause significant effects on the human environment, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

After a two-day bench trial, Judge Trevor McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling on Friday that Smith "suffered concrete and particularized injuries" as a result of DHS not meeting the requirements of NEPA. 

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Border fence construction materials sit unused on the U.S.-Mexico border south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, on Aug. 22. (Rebecca Noble)

The Trump-appointed judge also concluded that the actions taken by DHS, such as ending the "Remain in Mexico" policy, resulted in indirect effects relating to population growth.

Smith testified that migrant activity on his ranch had "dramatically increased" after President Biden was elected, and that he had begun seeing illegal immigrants on his property multiple times a month and finding trash on a daily basis.

Smith claimed that the trash left by the migrants has had negative impacts on the environment, as well as on his own cattle, which were eating the litter. 

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The rancher also testified that water for cattle and other wildlife was a very scarce resource and that migrants were taking it from a trough on his land. According to court documents: "While this may aid thirsty trespassers, it causes Smith to lose ‘thousands and thousands of gallons of water,’ which 'can take [him] days and days and days to regain." 

Border Patrol picks up a group of asylum seekers from an aid camp at the U.S.-Mexico border near Sasabe, Arizona, on March 13.  (Justin Hamel)

The judge ruled that Smith, a Cochise County resident, "suffered tangible harms" caused by the migrant crisis and is entitled to relief after illegal immigrants "trespassed onto his land, stole his water, and trashed his property." 

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"At trial, Smith proved as a matter of fact that his harms traced to migrants who reacted predictably to DHS's decisions," the ruling reads.