Despite the construction, the Biden Administration continues to urge Congress to end all funding of the Trump wall.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has approved more projects across the southern border to fill in gaps at the border wall. This comes as the Biden Administration has urged Congress to halt appropriations for the wall.
Specifically, Mayorkas’ projects go across Texas, Arizona, and California. They will be funded with existing money to DHS from Congress. DHS says the projects will create train gates to enhance safety for agents and migrants from train operations and gates under a bridge to account for “hazardous river waters.”
Other projects will include replacing a barrier in California “that has not been properly treated to withstand corrosion from nearby ocean waters and currently poses safety risks to Border Patrol Agents, community members, and migrants.”
Former President Donald Trump constructed around 450 miles of border wall at the southern border as a key aspect of his policy to halt illegal immigration and drug trafficking. However, President Joe Biden has called the wall pointless and ineffective. Many Democratic lawmakers have labeled the wall as “immoral” and “xenophobic.”
“Wall construction along the Southern border in recent years is just one example of the prior Administration’s misplaced priorities and failure to manage migration in a safe, orderly, and humane way,” the White House said in a fact sheet last year.
In June 2021, DHS revealed it would divert funding back to the Pentagon and use the money to enhance safety and environmental issues near border construction sites. However, while this was occurring, the Biden Administration canceled numerous border wall contracts. This led to Texas announcing it would fund its own projects at the wall.
