The ongoing immigration crisis at the U.S. southern border has made its way to cities across America, forcing President Joe Biden to change his immigration policies and politics. Now, it’s resulting in pushback from many of his supporters.
Reports that the Department of Homeland Security would be constructing 20 miles of border wall in Starr County, Texas, came out during the week of Oct. 1, in part because it goes against one of Biden’s 2020 campaign promises.
“There will not be another foot of wall constructed under my administration,” Biden said while campaigning in 2020.
Back in 2019, Congress allocated funds under the Trump administration to build the border wall. From the Oval Office on Thursday, Oct. 9, Biden mentioned that he had asked Congress to reappropriate those funds, but it refused.
“I tried to get them to reappropriate, to redirect that money,” Biden said. “They didn’t, they wouldn’t.”
Biden was then asked if he thinks a border wall works. He responded, “No.”
Later that day, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that the administration must build that section of border wall because it’s the law.
“He’s been asking Congress to reappropriate the funds,” Jean-Pierre said. “He has been for the last couple of years, and Congress refused, and we have to comply by law to get this done and that’s what you’re seeing happening right now.”
The decision comes after Democratic leaders — including in Illinois, New York and Massachusetts — turned up the heat, criticizing the Biden administration’s border policies. They’ve all declared states of emergency after receiving tens of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in their states, which has overwhelmed shelters and dwindled resources.
According to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector is an area of “high illegal entry.” As of early August 2023, it has “encountered over 245,000 such entrants attempting to enter the United States between ports of entry in the Rio Grande Valley sector in fiscal year 2023.”
The DHS also revealed that the federal government is waiving 26 federal laws to expedite the construction process, including provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
The proposed construction cuts near the lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, drawing criticism from climate, wildlife and Indigenous activist groups.
The Center for Biological Diversity, which helps to save endangered species, released a statement saying in part, “Every acre of habitat left in the Rio Grande Valley is irreplaceable… we can’t afford to lose more of it to a useless, medieval wall that won’t do a thing to stop immigration or smuggling. President Biden’s cynical decision to destroy crucial wildlife habitat and seal the beautiful Rio Grande behind a grotesque border wall must be stopped.”
Voces Unidas RGV, an immigrant rights groups, also condemned Biden’s border wall decision saying, “We are confused and angered by the decision to further punish the most innocent, most vulnerable people in our communities.”
In a statement Wednesday, Oct. 4, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said CBP “will implement sound environmental practices as part of the project covered by this waiver.”
