Biden’s own administration knows he’s incapable of governing. Now they’re going behind his back.
And Joe Biden is furious with this White House official for an earth-shattering betrayal.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, is citing an “acute and immediate need” to ignore hundreds of federal rules in order to build a border wall in South Texas, where illegal migration has increased.
It stands in stark contrast to early administration dismissals of the usage of such barriers.
The agency published a statement in the United States Federal Register outlining projects in Starr County, Rio Grande Valley Sector, where the administration claims there is “high illegal entry.”
According to the agency, over 245,000 migrant interactions have occurred in the sector this fiscal year.
Mayorkas stated that he is exercising his congressionally granted authority to waive 26 federal statutes, including the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Endangered Species Act.
“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 pursuant to sections 102(a) and 102(b) of [the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996],” Mr. Mayorkas said.
The administration halted new border wall building in early 2021, after Biden stated as a presidential candidate that “not another foot of wall would be constructed during my administration.”
The government stated that the Trump administration’s wall building was “just one example of the previous administration’s misplaced priorities and failure to manage migration in a safe, orderly, and humane manner.”
The construction, on the other hand, is funded by the fiscal year 2019 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, which specifically funds wall projects in the Rio Grande Valley Sector and which DHS is required to use for the purpose for which it was appropriated.
The news comes as the Biden administration is dealing with a new surge in illegal immigration, which has resulted in record-high numbers at the southern border and fierce political criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.
According to Customs and Border Protection authorities, there were more than 260,000 interactions in September, which would be the biggest monthly number on record.
But Biden isn’t ready to accept that they need to erect a physical barrier to stop people from crossing the border.
President Biden claimed at the White House on Thursday, after his government disclosed border wall construction in Texas, that he tried to “redirect” the money for the project and denied that the border wall worked.
“I’ll answer one question on the border wall, the border wall where money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate, to redirect that money,” Biden said.
“They didn’t. They wouldn’t. And in the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can’t stop that.”
When asked if he believes a border wall works, Biden replied, “No.”
Ben LaBolt, White House communications director, later tweeted on X, formerly Twitter, that “funds for 20 miles of border reinforcements were appropriated in 2019 before [Biden] took office.”
“He called on Congress to reappropriate the funds for smarter, more effective enforcement uses. Congress failed to do so,” LeBolt added. “Rule of law requires the project be completed in 2023.”
If the White House is so reluctant to build the wall, then why is Mayorkas saying we need it?
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
