Chertoff: Pardon me, but I’m above the law

“Fences!?... We need more… stinking fences!”

This must have been the cry coming from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff’s office after a Federal Judge in Washington stopped construction of a two mile stretch of fence in southern Arizona.

Chertoff has the power to unilaterally over ride any Federal court order regarding border construction projects he sees fit.

The fencing project in question is at the foot of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area southeast of Tucson. The conservation area, designated by Congress in 1988, is described on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Web site as ecologically "one of the most important riparian areas in the United States."

The construction of this fence according to environmental groups’ claim that plans for vehicle barriers in the river's floodway and washes leading into it will cause erosion and sedimentation that will harm the environment and affect species dependent on the river.

I have some serious issues with the fact that any one person in Government has the power to make a Judge’s ruling disappear at his or her whim.

To add to this “fencing” law travesty is no matter how many fences or how high they are built, it’s not going to keep illegal immigrants out of the country. 20 foot high fences will only result in 21 foot high ladders.

But environmental protection issues aren’t exactly high on the Bush Administration’s priority list. They never have been.

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