The administration of President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that it will add portions to a border wall to prevent record numbers of migrants from Mexico from crossing the border, reversing course to support a key Trump administration objective.
For the Republican Party candidacy to take against Democrat Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election, Trump is the current front-runner. Trump’s rally slogan, “Build That Wall,” turned border barriers into a cornerstone of his first run for the presidency.
For the first time since Donald Trump, the previous president, left office, border wall building in south Texas was able to resume on Wednesday after the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas lifted 26 federal laws.
The construction of the facility in Starr County, Texas, which is a major Border Patrol area with “high illegal entry,” was announced by the Department of Homeland Security with little information put on the U.S. Federal Registry. Approximately 245,000 illegal entries have been reported in this area during the current fiscal year, according to government data.
In order to stop unauthorized entry into the United States in the proposed regions, Mayorkas stated in the notice that there is currently an urgent need to build physical barriers and roadways close to the border of the United States.
DHS has waived compliance with a number of federal regulations, including the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act in order to proceed with border wall construction using money provided by a 2019 congressional authorization. The waivers prevent drawn-out investigations and legal actions alleging environmental law violations.
Although no maps were included in the declaration, a prior map presented during the solicitation of public opinions reveals that the fragmented construction will result in an increase of up to 32 kilometers (20 miles) in the area’s current border barrier system.
After gaining office in January 2021, one of Biden’s first acts was to make a proclamation promising that “no more American tax dollars would will be used to construct a border wall” and ordering a review of all funds already allocated.
The government claimed on Thursday that the decision did not depart from Biden’s declaration since funds scheduled for usage in 2019 under Trump’s presidency needed to be used immediately.
The announcement represents a significant reversal from President Joe Biden’s initial position on the issue. When Biden became president in January 2021, the national emergency over the border situation was declared over because “constructing an enormous wall that covers the entire Southern Border is not a genuine policy solution.”
In his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden said categorically that “there will not be another inch of wall built in my administration.”
In the roughly 1,200 square miles (3,108 square kilometers) of ranchland and a portion of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Starr County is home to about 65,000 people.
Environmentalists claim the constructions will pass through public lands that are home to endangered plant and animal species, including the spotted wild cat known as the ocelot.
Biden responded “No” to a question by journalists if the border wall is effective, but added that the government needed to use the funds. Biden said that he could not stop that.
Trump quickly declared victory and demanded an explanation.
Wheels and walls are the only two things that have dependably worked over thousands of years, as I have frequently noted. On social media, Trump posted. Will Joe Biden apologize to me and to the United States for waiting so long to move?
The plan is being implemented as the volume of illegal immigration into the United States skyrockets, with Border Patrol capturing almost 210,000 migrants after they entered the country illegally in September. The number of people apprehended at the border has never been higher in 2023.
The Democratic Party criticized the Biden administration for their announcement of more border wall building.
The Statement From Political Supporters of The Border Wall
The waivers, according to political backers of the border wall, should serve as a springboard for a change in the law.
Dan Stein, who is the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s president, said that after years of refusing that a border wall and other tangible obstacles are effective, the DHS announcement represents a sea change in the administration’s thinking: A secure wall is an effective tool for maintaining control of their borders. The administration must immediately start building a wall throughout the border after making that concession in order to stop illicit traffic from simply shifting to other border regions.
Leave a Reply