Unreal ID Act
So the "REAL ID Act of 2005," which used to be part of H.R.418, has now been bolted onto an emergency-spending bill that is certain to pass the Senate. May already have happened, as I write this. Bruce Schneier discusses it here. Our states will be obligated to incorporate machine-readable info and digital photos into the driver's licenses they issue, and to verify that we are all living here legally (but the states are not getting any extra money to accomplish this).
What I want to know is: does Section 102 really make the Secretary of Homeland Security into an absolute tyrant reigning over 14 miles of borderland in California? From page 11 of the CRS analysis:
Current Law. Section 102(c) of the IIRIRA provided for a waiver of the ESA
and NEPA to the extent the Attorney General determines is necessary to ensure
expeditious construction of barriers and roads.
Changes Proposed by H.R. 418. Section 102 of H.R. 418 would amend
the current provision to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any law
upon determining that a waiver is necessary for the expeditious construction of the
border barriers. Additionally, it would prohibit judicial review of a waiver decision
or action by the Secretary and bar judicially ordered compensation or injunction or
other remedy for damages alleged to result from any such decision or action.
That seems like a lot of power to give somebody in order to get a fence built.
What I want to know is: does Section 102 really make the Secretary of Homeland Security into an absolute tyrant reigning over 14 miles of borderland in California? From page 11 of the CRS analysis:
Current Law. Section 102(c) of the IIRIRA provided for a waiver of the ESA
and NEPA to the extent the Attorney General determines is necessary to ensure
expeditious construction of barriers and roads.
Changes Proposed by H.R. 418. Section 102 of H.R. 418 would amend
the current provision to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any law
upon determining that a waiver is necessary for the expeditious construction of the
border barriers. Additionally, it would prohibit judicial review of a waiver decision
or action by the Secretary and bar judicially ordered compensation or injunction or
other remedy for damages alleged to result from any such decision or action.
That seems like a lot of power to give somebody in order to get a fence built.