Biden is forced to build Trump’s border wall; Biden Admin Forced to Complete More of Donald Trump’s Border Wall

Biden is forced to build Trump’s border wall:

Homeland Security said Friday it will build 20 more miles of border wall, carrying out some of former President Donald Trump’s marquee campaign promise.

The department suggested it had no choice but to begin construction thanks to the terms of the 2019 spending bill, which allocated money specifically for wall-building at the border.

Some $190 million remains unspent and President Biden risked running afoul of the law if he didn’t take steps to spend it on the wall by September.

“Until and unless Congress cancels these funds, the law requires DHS to use the funds consistent with their appropriated purpose,” Customs and Border Protection said in an unsigned statement announcing the new construction.

The move marks a significant retreat for Mr. Biden, who during the 2020 campaign had vowed there would “not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.”

CBP said the new construction will take place in the Border Patrol’s Yuma and El Centro sectors, which cover southeastern California and southwestern Arizona.

The wall will be an 18-foot steel bollard design, which is what was allowed by the 2019 spending bill and is, CBP said, “the most operationally effective design.”

Along with the fence panels, the department will also add lighting, access roads and sensors to detect illegal crossings. The Trump team had called that package the “wall system,” and said it was all critical to defending the border. —>READ MORE HERE

Biden Admin Forced to Complete More of Donald Trump’s Border Wall:

On Friday, United States Customs and Border Protection released a statement confirming that they will move forward with the construction of 20 miles of the border wall, despite the Biden administration’s calls to thwart the project. For fiscal year 2019, Congress allocated $1.375 billion in funding “for the construction of primary pedestrian fencing, including levee pedestrian fencing, in the Rio Grande Valley,” and $190 million of that funding remains. Customs and Border Protection wrote:

Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authorized U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to move forward with the planning and execution of up to approximately 20 miles of border barrier system, with steel bollard panels placed in U.S. Border Patrol’s (USBP) Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector, as mandated by the DHS Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 border barrier appropriation. This project is consistent with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) plan to fulfill the requirements of President Biden’s Proclamation, which ended the diversion of funds for border wall from military projects or other sources. A substantial portion of unobligated funds that had been diverted from the Department of Defense have already been returned to their original sources. DHS is legally mandated to use the remaining FY2019 funds for their appropriated purpose.

The administration is legally bound to use the funding as appropriated, which includes the construction elements of the border wall’s design. The statement said:

As required by DHS’s FY 2019 appropriation, CBP will be using 18-foot steel bollard fence panels placed in removable concrete jersey barriers, as the steel bollard design remains the most operationally effective design and has been tested and evaluated over the last several years.

Despite being legally bound to the fiscal allocation and design, the Department of Homeland Security and the White House have continuously called on Congress to cancel the funding. President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on his first day in office, calling the previously declared national emergency at the southern border, “unwarranted,” and the use of funds to build barriers on the US-Mexico border, “a waste of money.” The proclamation ended the emergency, halted the construction of the border wall, and required a plan to redirect funds and repurpose contracts. —>READ MORE HERE

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