TUCSON, Ariz.— The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security has waived laws governing federal procurement and contracting for border wall construction in all nine U.S. Border Patrol sectors along the 2,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border.

“These waivers set the stage for a continent-wide ecological fracture unlike anything in human history,” said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Decades of ecological research shows that walls fragment habitats, block migrations, sever gene flow and destabilize wildlife populations. A continent-wide wall would splinter ecosystems, bisect wildlife populations and push many species toward extinction. No society has ever attempted to wall off an entire continent. The consequences would be existentially devastating.”

The waivers, issued last week, sweep aside dozens of laws that govern how the Department of Homeland Security solicits, evaluates and awards contracts. The waivers apply to “all contracting actions necessary for the construction of physical barriers,” the department wrote, as well as roads, lighting infrastructure and more.

The waivers pave the way for new construction contracts from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, including within remaining border wall gaps.

They set aside key provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Small Business Act, the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act and federal acquisition regulations. These laws are central to federal contracting oversight. They require public notice and comment, competitive bidding, small business participation, labor protections, environmental compliance, and opportunities for administrative and judicial review.

With these safeguards suspended, the government can bypass public input, stakeholder engagement and meaningful court oversight. Contracts can be awarded without competition, transparency or anti-corruption protections — opening the door to cronyism, waste and abuse. The waivers dismantle the checks and balances that normally govern how public money is spent and how major federal projects are scrutinized.

Unlike past waivers which largely bypassed environmental and cultural heritage laws, these waivers are unprecedented both in the comprehensive suite of procurement laws and in geography across the entire southern border.

As of 2021 U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported approximately 701 miles of primary barriers along the southern border. These structures cut through critical wildlife habitat or populations of nearly 100 threatened and endangered species.

Populations of wildlife that would be harmed by a continent-wide wall include the jaguar, ocelot, black bear, Mexican gray wolf, Sonoran pronghorn, desert bighorn sheep, cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl and hundreds of migratory birds and pollinators. These species depend on cross-border movement to find mates, disperse, access seasonal habitats, and adapt to a changing climate.

The waivers apply to contracts relating to all aspects and phases of wall construction and upkeep, including barriers, roads, lights, staging areas, earthwork, excavation, cameras, sensors and other features.

Last week’s waiver announcements also mention the installation of new industrial lighting along the wall. There is scientific consensus that artificial light at night can disrupt pollination, disorient migrating birds, alter predator–prey relationships and fragment nocturnal habitats. This light pollution would erase natural night skies over some of North America’s wildest landscapes, harming wildlife and cultural resources alike, as discussed in a recent Center report.

“Imagine 2,000 miles of beautiful desert, river valleys, and coastal plains lit up like a sports stadium, every night, forever,” said McSpadden. “This would create a continent-wide secondary wall of light blasted into the sky that would devastate nocturnal wildlife across entire ecosystems and extinguish the stars over some of the most beautiful, biologically rich places on the continent.”