Reuter's fell for the GOP spin on section 102 of the REAL ID Act, H.R. 418, which empowers the DHS Secretary to waive all laws: The House rejected an effort by some Democrats to strike a provision aimed at completing a 14-mile fence near San Diego meant to stop illegal immigrants flowing over the Mexican border. Stop right there. If the provision really were aimed at completing the 14-mile fence near San Diego, then it would be a different measure entirely. As we explain here, the controversial above-the-law section goes far, far beyond the San Diego fencing. It gives DHS a blank check that never expires and works everywhere in the border area. Opponents said the provision goes too far in usurping state and local laws as well as federal labor and environmental standards. A three-mile portion of the fence, which was authorized, remains unfinished because of a dispute involving an endangered species of bird and other environmental concerns. Not mentioned there: that the federal law under which the "dispute involving ... environmental concerns" is holding up the remaining section of fencing already has a built-in exit clause that allows the White House to conclude that further negotiations with the California Coastal Commission are no longer viable. See this CRS backgrounder for more.