Another Brick in Trump's Wall - Stolen From the Rule of Law

This is what modern corruption, waste, fraud and abuse look like:

President Trump is so eager to complete hundreds of miles of border fence ahead of the 2020 presidential election that he has directed aides to fast-track billions of dollars’ worth of construction contracts, aggressively seize private land and disregard environmental rules, according to current and former officials involved with the project.

He also has told worried subordinates that he will pardon them of any potential wrongdoing should they have to break laws to get the barriers built quickly, those officials said.

It also means that Congress’s Power of the Purse as enumerated by the allegedly Republican Revered Constitution is now nothing more than a suggestion:

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper is expected to approve a White House request to divert $3.6 billion in Pentagon funds to the barrier project in coming weeks, money that Trump sought after lawmakers refused to allocate $5 billion. The funds will be pulled from Defense Department projects in 26 states, according to administration officials who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the matter.

And those laws designed to ensure fair, competent contracting is done with taxpayer dollars – not even thought about:

“Border Patrol insists on compressed acquisition timelines, and we consent. Their goal is to get contracts awarded, not for us to get a quality contract with a thoroughly vetted contractor,” said one senior official who is concerned the agency has been hurried to hand out contracts as quickly as possible.

 Military officials expect more contract protests because the arrangements have been rushed, the official added. The Army Corps already has had to take corrective actions for two procurement contracts, after companies protested.

And of course, there’s no consideration for environmental damage or private property rights:

The companies building the fencing and access roads have been taking heavy earth-moving equipment into environmentally sensitive border areas adjacent to U.S. national parks and wildlife preserves, but the administration has waived procedural safeguards and impact studies, citing national security concerns.

“They don’t care how much money is spent, whether landowners’ rights are violated, whether the environment is damaged, the law, the regs or even prudent business practices,” the senior official said.

CBP has suggested no longer writing risk-assessment memos “related to the fact that we don’t have real estate rights and how this will impact construction,” the official said.

Now many folks would say that interests of national security require us to forgo the legal mandates and Congressional preferences so that we can secure our border. And were we under active military invasion they MIGHT have a point.

But we aren’t.  All this wall is being done as a spectacle to fuel race-based animosity against powerless defenseless migrants literally fleeing for their lives.  They are seeking succor in the US – a country whose proxy war with Russia in the last century in Central and South America largely drove the violence and destitution they are fleeing. They come here and mow our lawns, build our houses, feed us, clean our office buildings, pick our fruit and slaughter our chickens.  They add dollars to local economies, they send their kids to school to learn English, and they give away billions in tax dollars for services they can not receive.   American born citizens do not do the jobs they do, nor will they once immigrants are thrown out.

The Wall is a political misdirection.  It takes money that Congress set aside for other purposes and throws it at a useless barrier that won’t make meaningful changes to immigration or economic policy so the President can stoke fears to keep power.  And along the way, the Part of Law and Order and the Constitution can keep trashing all those things because no one will notice.  Or care.

Oh, for a functional Deep State.