The Biden administration has approved the construction of a new wall along the southern border in Texas in an apparent effort to combat the immigration crisis that President Joe Biden created.
The Department of Homeland Secretary (DHS) announced that it has bypassed environmental reviews to build a 20-mile wall in Starr County, a complete reversal of the administration’s stance on having a physical barrier between the U.S. and Mexico.
“There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas,” said DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a notice posted on the U.S. Federal Registry.
The border wall was one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest campaign promises, and his administration constructed about 450 miles of border barriers between 2017 and January 2021.
The decision to build the wall contradicts Biden’s previous promise to end the construction, saying that “building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution.”
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), meanwhile, argued that the planned construction does not violate the president’s proclamation.
“CBP remains committed to protecting the nation’s cultural and natural resources and will implement sound environmental practices as part of the project covered by this waiver,” the CBP said in a statement.
Some Democrats were not pleased with the announcement and denounced the plans, warning that the contradictions in the Biden administration’s direction and attitudes toward immigrants could affect the party’s strong public platform on the issue.
“A border wall is a 14th-century solution to a 21st-century problem. It will not bolster border security in Starr County,” State Rep. Henry Cuellar said in a statement. “I continue to stand against the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars on an ineffective border wall.”
“We desperately need a positive, aspirational, optimistic narrative around immigration, and Democrats are the ones that should be doing it,” said Kristian Ramos, a Democratic strategist. “We are the party that is for legal orderly immigration, MAGA Republicans just want to stop everyone from coming in. That’s an important distinction here.”
