By Perla Trevizo | Arizona Daily Star
A $1 billion-a-year bill moving through Congress would add miles of roads and fences along the border and waive more than a dozen environmental laws within 100 miles of the border — even though top immigration officials say that’s not needed.
The proposed bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to achieve “operational control” of the U.S.-Mexico border. That means that all illegal entries are stopped, which top DHS officials have said is unrealistic.
But Martha McSally, Southern Arizona’s newly elected Republican U.S. representative who co-sponsored the House bill, said setting an ambitious standard is the best way to achieve success.
