Brief Filed by Leading Archaeologists Urging Supreme Court to Review Border Wall Authority to Waive Historic Preservation Laws

On behalf of a coalition of nationally and internationally renowned archaeologists and the nonprofit organization Archaeology Southwest, we submitted an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of Section 102(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (“IIRIRA”). In an unprecedented delegation of legislative authority, IIRIRA § 102(c) allows the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to waive any and all federal and/or state laws that the Secretary, in his or her sole discretion, deems necessary to facilitate the expeditious construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The exercise of this waiver authority has permitted the Department of Homeland Security to waive a staggering number of federal laws designed to protect the nation’s irreplaceable archaeological resources along the southern border, including sacred Native American burial grounds and areas inhabited by humans for over 15,000 years. A decision on the petition for certiorari is expected within the next six weeks.