Renata Kiss, FISM News
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In an effort to curb the migrant crisis, the Biden administration is now backpedaling some of its “open-border” policies. The administration announced on Wednesday that it is removing 26 federal laws that blocked the Trump-era construction along the South Texas border.
“The Secretary of Homeland Security has determined, pursuant to law, that it is necessary to waive certain laws, regulations, and other legal requirements in order to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads in the vicinity of the international land border in Starr County, Texas,” DHS wrote in a statement.
According to DHS data, 245,000 illegal immigrants crossed the border in the Rio Grande Valley Sector during the current fiscal year, prompting border security to step up its efforts in the “high illegal entry” area.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wrote that the project will be funded by Congress’ border budget from FY 2019, meaning that President Biden will now divert the funds to the border which he had previously used for “military projects” or “other sources.”
Construction will continue along the 20-mile area where former President Donald Trump had received permission to proceed with the highly disputed wall construction in 2020.
The Trump administration built 450 miles of barriers along the southwest border between 2017 and 2021. Back in 2021, President Biden did not consider building a “massive wall” along the southern border a “serious policy solution,” so his administration halted construction.
It took the administration the majority of Biden’s presidency to change its collective mind on the matter, and not without spurring Democrat controversy.
“A border wall is a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem. It will not bolster border security in Starr County,” Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar said. “I continue to stand against the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars on an ineffective border wall.”
Meanwhile, advocates for the wall argue that this could be the start of a shift in policy.
“After years of denying that a border wall and other physical barriers 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 our borders. Having made that concession, the administration needs to immediately begin construction of wall across the border to prevent the illegal traffic from simply moving to other areas of the border,” Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), wrote in a statement to Politico.
According to FAIR’s latest report, there are about 16.8 million “illegal aliens” in the U.S. today.