This was a surprise!
Nearly a year after construction at the Southern border ceased, the Biden administration has green-lighted filling in gaps in the incomplete wall projects started during Trump’s presidency. This, in addition to resolving environmental concerns.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, announced on Monday (December 20) that he had given the go-ahead to U.S Customs and Border Protection, enabling them to move forward with projects in Arizona, California, and Texas. These green-lit projects are in addition to various other projects intended to address environmental, life, and safety restoration for border communities.
Part of this new construction comprises closing gaps between the border walls and gates, in addition to completing access roads along the border used by Border Patrol agents. The project will also include completing – or installing – drainage systems and erosion control and carrying out slope stabilization measures.
The projects which will take place in Tucson and Yuma in Arizona, San Diego and El Centro in California, and Del Rio and El Paso in Texas will be funded by unused billions that had previously been allocated to the 700 miles of construction.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said most of the work will be conducted in Tucson, El Paso, and Yuma; where the focus will be to close construction gaps, including adding missing gates and providing power to gates that had been inoperable. The rescue gates are vital for the safety of Border Patrol agents as it allows responders to access irrigation canals in the event fast-moving water causes an emergency.
This news comes months after President Joe Biden took office, where days into his term, he suspended wall construction, ordering his administration to review the $15 billion – $4 billion from Congress and $10.5 billion that was diverted from the Defense Department – allocated to the project. Of the $10.5 billion diverted by former President Donald Trump, only $2 billion was unused.
Although Biden halted the wall construction because Democrats caused an uproar during Trump’s presidency, border and wall construction isn’t new. Since former President Bill Clinton initiated a Border Patrol wall project, subsequent administrations have followed suit.
