Should we be alarmed?
May 12, 2005H.R. 418, REAL ID Act of 2005 (read a copy
[here](http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-418) or
search [thomas.loc.gov](http://thomas.loc.gov)), contains a passage
ammending Section 102© of the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) to read:
> NO JUDICIAL REVIEW- Notwithstanding any other provision of law
(statutory or nonstatutory), no court, administrative agency, or other
entity shall have jurisdiction—
> (A) to hear any cause or claim arising from any action undertaken, or
any decision made, by the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to
paragraph (1); or
> (B) to order compensatory, declaratory, injunctive, equitable, or any
other relief for damage alleged to arise from any such action or
decision.
Which sounds rather broad given that the section of law read:
> (a) In General. The Attorney General, in consultation with the
Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, shall take such
actions as may be necessary to install additional physical barriers
and roads (including the removal of obstacles to detection of illegal
entrants) in the vicinity of the United States border to deter illegal
crossings in areas of high illegal entry into the United States.
…
> © Waiver. The provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 [16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.] and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
[42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.] are waived to the extent the Attorney
General
determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the
barriers and roads under this section [amending this section].
It will be interesting to see what a court makes of that since it sounds
to this
layman’s ears like a broadside against the judiciary and limitations of
Congressional and Executive power.