["Border walls are ineffective, a poor use of taxpayer funds, and
a strain on the local environment, endangering families and children
who are fleeing from dangerous conditions and that seek legal asylum
in the United States."]
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BIDEN STUNS ALLIES WITH BORDER WALL BOMBSHELL  
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Rafael Bernal
October 6, 2023
The Hill
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_ "Border walls are ineffective, a poor use of taxpayer funds, and a
strain on the local environment, endangering families and children who
are fleeing from dangerous conditions and that seek legal asylum in
the United States." _

Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.),

 

President Biden’s decision this week to move forward with border
wall construction that Democrats have long denounced shocked allies
and immigration advocates.

The stunning reversal came just days after administration officials
participated in an immigration roundtable at the Capitol featuring
Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) members and immigration advocates.

The administration’s participation in the roundtable drew praise
from CHC members
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administration officials did not mention plans to restart border wall
construction.

CHC leaders called the decision “disappointing” Thursday.

“While this border wall funding was signed into law by President
Trump under Republican leadership, this decision is not in line with
the current Administration’s commitments to end border wall
construction. Republicans remain committed to building border walls
that are ineffective, a poor use of taxpayer funds, and a strain on
the local environment, endangering families and children who are
fleeing from dangerous conditions and that seek legal asylum in the
United States,” CHC Chairwoman Nanette Díaz Barragán (D-Calif.)
said in a statement.

A notice posted on the Federal Register on Wednesday waived a series
of environmental and historical protection laws to allow for wall
construction in Starr County, Texas, using funds appropriated in 2019
for that purpose.

Biden told reporters Thursday that his administration moved forward
with the waivers and construction to comply with a legal obligation to
use the appropriated funds.

“One question on the border wall: The border wall, money was
appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to
reappropriate, to redirect that money. They didn’t. They
wouldn’t,” Biden told reporters in the Oval Office.

“And in the meantime, there’s nothing in the law — they have to
use the money for what it was appropriated. I can’t stop that.”

Asked whether he believes the border wall works, Biden sighed,
“no.”

His explanation came more than 12 hours after The Associated Press
first reported the story
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based on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) quiet
announcement in the Federal Registry.

The administration had forewarned some allies such as Rep. Henry
Cuellar (D-Texas) that it would obligate the funds to avoid violating
the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, but it omitted a key detail.

“[Biden] tried to divert money; he tried to do everything that he
could from my understanding. He tried to transfer and reprogram
authorities. So he did a whole bunch of stuff, but it’s only limited
to 5 percent of what they could transfer,” said Cuellar, an
appropriator and a fierce opponent of wall construction.

Cuellar said Biden is “stuck with the Impoundment Control Act,”
but raised doubts about the environmental waivers.

“But on a different point — and I’ve been trying to get answers
from the administration because we just found out yesterday — why
did they waive the environmental laws? That’s something else. And
we’ve been trying to get an answer, and they can’t give me an
answer,” Cuellar said.

An administration official said new construction will use “Jersey
barriers” rather than digging to bury foundations for the planned
expansion in an effort to mitigate environmental damage, but otherwise
pointed to precedent for the administration’s waiver announcement.

“I’ll just point out that new border barrier construction has
never been completed without utilizing the waiver — waiver process.
That’s why the waiver process was passed into law, and it’s an
essential part in the barrier construction process,” said the
official.

“Despite that, we complete thorough environmental surveys and make
every effort to comply with the intent of the environmental laws to
safeguard the border environment.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pushed back against
criticism that the announcement represented either a policy shift or a
contradiction for the administration.

“There is no new Administration policy with respect to border walls.
From day one, this Administration has made clear that a border wall is
not the answer. That remains our position and our position has never
wavered. The language in the Federal Register notice is being taken
out of context and it does not signify any change in policy
whatsoever,” Mayorkas said in a statement published on X
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formerly known as Twitter.

But immigration and environmental advocates are livid.

“It’s disheartening to see President Biden stoop to this level,
casting aside our nation’s bedrock environmental laws to build
ineffective wildlife-killing border walls,” said Laiken Jordahl,
Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological
Diversity. “Starr County is home to some of the most spectacular and
biologically important habitat left in Texas, and now bulldozers are
preparing to rip right through it. This is a horrific step backwards
for the borderlands.”

The move also fueled criticism and mockery from Republicans and
immigration restrictionists who have long denounced Biden’s border
policies.

“So interesting to watch Crooked Joe Biden break every environmental
law in the book to prove that I was right when I built 560 miles (they
incorrectly state 450 in story!) of brand new, beautiful border
wall,” former President Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.

And advocates are frustrated the administration’s project is
unlikely to actually upgrade border security.

“Anyplace sparsely populated and rural enough to have ocelots is a
place where a wall that slows someone down for a couple minutes
isn’t going to make much difference,” said Adam Isacson, director
of defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America.

The chaotic aftermath of the announcement underscores growing
political concerns in the administration over immigration and a
multitude of forces pulling in different directions.

Many Democrats are wary that perceived contradictions in the
administration’s direction and attitudes toward immigrants will rob
the party of a strong public platform on the issue.

“We desperately need a positive, aspirational, optimistic narrative
around immigration, and Democrats are the ones that should be doing
it,” said Kristian Ramos, a Democratic strategist.

“We are the party that is for legal orderly immigration, MAGA
Republicans just want to stop everyone from coming in. That’s an
important distinction here,” added Ramos.

The abrupt changes are also raising questions about the
administration’s internal deliberations.

“The best way I can explain it is that these are internal forces
inside the Biden White House that are reacting to [high immigration
numbers] and not taking into consideration the ugly, visceral negative
reaction that Biden supporters in the Latino community are going to
have against this action,” said former Rep. Luis Gutiérrez
(D-Ill.), who is leading a push for Biden to take a more aggressive
posture in favor of immigration reform.

“It’s not going to be received with applause and happiness. Quite
the opposite. There’s going to be a great degree of sadness, and
then anger that they took the steps.”

* Border Walls
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* Immigration Reform
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* asylum seekers
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