Many Democrats are furious with President Joe Biden for resuming construction of the border wall, calling it hypocritical and a game for votes in the 2024 election.
Rep. Nanette Barragán, head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, pointed out that “this decision is not aligned with the current administration’s commitments to end border wall construction.”
And former Housing Secretary Julián Castro said it was a “flip-flop.” He accused Biden of playing for votes in the 2024 election.
“This is a response to the pressure, especially the attacks from Republicans that Biden has been receiving, where I think he and his team are probably concerned that he appears too soft on immigration,” Castro said on MSNBC Thursday evening.
‘And so they are taking a political gamble here. And the bet is that they will gain more votes in 2024 than they will lose to unenthusiastic progressives or allies by essentially taking what they see as a move to the middle on immigration and looking harder and harder on it.”
U.S. Border Patrol agents escort migrants who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border through a gate in the border wall to be processed for their immigration claim
A Gallup poll this summer found that most Americans believe the crisis at the border is a problem: 39% think it is a “crisis,” 33% a “major problem” and 22% a “minor problem.” .
Biden’s Republican rivals have taken a negative view of his administration’s record on the issue, saying the president is not doing enough to crack down on illegal border crossings at the country’s southern border.
The number of illegal border crossings is still at a record high. More than 800,000 migrants crossed the border illegally between May and September.
“The best way I can explain it is that these are internal forces within the Biden White House reacting to (high immigration numbers) and not taking into account the ugly, visceral negative reaction that Biden supporters will receive in the Latino community . against this action,” the former Democratic Rep. Luis Gutiérrez to The Hill newspaper.
‘It will not be received with applause and joy. Quite the opposite. There will be a great deal of sadness, and then anger because they took the steps.”
Even Democratic allies are scratching their heads over Biden’s decision.
Biden pledged not to build another foot of Donald Trump’s border wall during the 2020 presidential campaign.
But now Biden claims he had to resume construction because he must spend the funds as Congress allocated them.
Representative Henry Cuellar, whose district includes Starr County where the new construction will occur, said he is not happy with the decision.
“I am still against a 14th century solution – called ‘the wall’ – to a 21st century problem,” he said in a statement. “I want to see more staff, more technology.”
And Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted the president for his “cruel” move to resume border wall construction.
She urged him to “change course.”
In a statement Thursday night, the New York congressman denounced the measure, saying, “The Biden administration was not required to expand border wall construction — and it certainly was not required to waive various environmental laws to expedite construction .’
“A wall does nothing to stop people fleeing poverty and violence from coming to the United States. Walls only serve to push migrants into more remote areas, increasing their chances of death. It is a cruel policy,” she added.
Migrants seeking asylum in the United States gather on the banks of the Rio Bravo River
President Joe Biden said he has no choice but to build the wall and spend the federal money the way Congress allocated it
The Biden administration made the stunning announcement earlier this week that it will build 20 miles of border wall on the southern border.
The Department of Homeland Security said it is waiving 26 federal laws to begin building a new “physical barrier” started under Donald Trump.
It was a sharp turnaround.
The Biden White House has consistently condemned Trump’s harsh migration policies and even canceled wall construction when Biden took office.
On his first day in office, Biden even declared that building a wall was not a “serious policy solution.”
However, the government is facing an increase in the number of migrants crossing and pressure to tackle the situation. Even some major city mayors who are Democrats are putting pressure on the government to stem the flow of incoming migrants, many of whom are then shipped to cities across the country.
Biden, meanwhile, argued that Congress appropriated the money to build the wall on the country’s southern border, so he should use the money that way.
“The money was for the border wall. I tried to get them to re-appropriate that money. They didn’t. They wouldn’t do that. In the meantime, there is no other option under the law than that they must use the money for what it is intended. I can’t stop that,” he said in the Oval Office on Thursday.
When asked if he thought the border wall was effective, he said, “no.”
Indigenous groups and environmental organizations have rejected the move, pointing out the damage it will cause to the local landscape and residents.
The policies the administration is abandoning are the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
The waivers prevent time-consuming reviews and lawsuits challenging violations of environmental laws.
The hilly ranchlands of Starr County, located between Zapata and McAllen, Texas, are home to approximately 65,000 residents over a sparsely populated area of approximately 450 square miles that are part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
“It’s absolutely a mystery why they thought it was a good idea to issue these waivers,” said Laiken Jordahl, a borderlands campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).
“Starr County is home to some of the most spectacular and biologically important habitats left in Texas, and now bulldozers are preparing to rip right through it. This is a horrific step backwards for the border areas.”
Dayana, a migrant from Venezuela seeking asylum in the United States, carries her 2-year-old daughter Edith to the banks of the Rio Bravo River as the Texas National Guard blocks the US-Mexico border crossing
And immigration rights groups accused the administration of playing politics.
“I see the Biden administration making a strategic play before the election,” said Michelle Serrano, co-director of Voces Unidas RGV, an immigrant rights and community advocacy group based in the Rio Grande Valley.
Even Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called it a “setback.”
“It’s a setback because it doesn’t solve the problem,” he said Thursday. López Obrador had frequently praised Biden in the past because “he is the first American president in a long time who has not built walls.”