WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The Department of Homeland Security will bypass environmental and land-management laws to build hundreds of miles of border fence between the United States and Mexico , Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday . A border fence stands at Juarez , Mexico . More than 360 miles of fence are supposed to be finished by year 's end . `` Criminal activity at the border does not stop for endless debate or protracted litigation , '' Chertoff said . `` These waivers will enable important security projects to keep moving forward . '' Chertoff cited a congressional requirement that 361 miles of fence be completed by the end of the year . He also pointed out that Congress had given him the authority to bypass laws . But the executive director of the Sierra Club , an environmental group , said the move `` threatens the livelihoods and ecology of the entire U.S.-Mexico border region . '' `` Secretary Chertoff chose to bypass stakeholders and push through this unpopular project on April Fools ' Day . We do n't think the destruction of the borderlands region is a laughing matter , '' said Carl Pope . The Sierra Club says the waivers will affect a range of federally protected lands , including national parks , monuments , wildlife refuges , forests and wilderness areas . The Sierra Club says the waivers themselves are unconstitutional and has asked the Supreme Court to rule on the question . This is the fourth set of waivers issued by the department , and is the most sweeping . Chertoff 's orders Tuesday affect two areas . First , the department proposes to place fencing , towers , sensors , cameras , detection equipment and roads along a 470-mile stretch of the border in California , Arizona , New Mexico and Texas . Second , it plans to integrate a concrete wall into proposed levee reinforcements along a 22-mile section of the Rio Grande in Hidalgo County , Texas . The department said it is committed to working in an environmentally sensitive manner and cooperating with resource agencies so it does as little damage as possible . E-mail to a friend .
NEW : Sierra Club says border waivers are unconstitutional . Homeland Security chief : Waivers will enable security projects to move forward . Environmental , land-management laws will be bypassed for U.S.-Mexico fence . Michael Chertoff says Congress has given him the authority to bypass laws .