Mullin says the waiver is necessary to build barriers and roads quickly
Markwayne MullinSecretary of Homeland Security
Mullin determines that waiving New Mexico's water code and well rules is necessary to build barriers and roads quickly in part of the El Paso Sector, then issues the waiver.
Responding to
Waiving the New Mexico Water Code and the state's well-drilling rules is necessary to ensure the expeditious construction of border barriers and roads in the El Paso Sector project area.
“In order to ensure the expeditious construction of additional physical barriers and roads in the project area, I have determined that it is necessary that I exercise the authority that is vested in me by section 102(c) of IIRIRA.”
Original text
Where this statement fits
DHS waives New Mexico water law for border wall wells; state officials call the waiver unconstitutional
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin published a notice on October 2, 2026, waiving the New Mexico Water Code and state well rules for border barrier and road construction in part of the El Paso Sector, including the drilling and use of wells. New Mexico officials, who sued the federal government and its contractors in August over wells drilled without state permits, say the waiver is unconstitutional and plan to challenge it.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
Department of Homeland Security notice in the Federal Register, FR Doc. 2026-20233, signed by Secretary Markwayne Mullin. It waives the New Mexico Water Code and two parts of the state's well-drilling rules for border barrier and road construction, including the drilling and operation of wells, in a stretch of the El Paso Sector in New Mexico. It took effect on October 2, 2026.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Mullin writes that the El Paso Sector is an area of high illegal entry and that there is "an acute and immediate need to construct additional physical barriers and roads" in the project area, which runs along the border in southern New Mexico.
After the quotation
He then waives the New Mexico Water Code and parts of the state's well-drilling rules for construction in the project area, including the drilling, operation and plugging of wells.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is DHS's October 2 waiver of New Mexico water law and the federal use of wells drilled without state permits for border wall construction. Mullin signed the waiver and says it is "necessary" to ensure "the expeditious construction of additional physical barriers and roads", so we labeled it Defended. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional; it loses because the notice attaches no condition to the waiver within the project area.
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The Dispute Index. "Mullin says the waiver is necessary to build barriers and roads quickly". First published: 2026-10-17. Last updated: 2026-10-17. https://disputeindex.com/events/5978-mullin-determines-that-waiving-new-mexico-s-water