Jean Guerrero | KPBS
California has filed a lawsuit against President Trump’s border wall. The suit filed Wednesday argues that plans to begin construction in San Diego and Imperial counties could harm the state’s sensitive environmental resources.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration decided to waive dozens of environmental and cultural protection laws in order to speed up border wall construction.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says that's not okay. The lawsuit argues the federal government’s authority to waive laws in the name of border security expired in 2008, after 600 miles of fencing were built along the border.
“We respect immigration policy," Becerra says, "we understand it's a federal matter, but if it happens in our backyard, we demand that it be carried out in the right way following the rule of law.”
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he thinks the Trump administration will prevail in the lawsuit and that border security is his priority.
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