The Biden administration will waive 26 laws to build additional border barriers in the Rio Grande Valley, according to a notice posted to the Federal Register Wednesday, citing “high illegal entry.”
Construction of the wall will be paid for using already appropriated funds earmarked specifically for physical border barriers, and the administration was under a deadline to use them. But the move comes at a time when a new surge of migrants is straining federal and local resources and placing heavy political pressure on the Biden administration to address a sprawling crisis.
Border Patrol reported nearly 300,000 encounters in the Rio Grande Valley sector between last October and August, according to federal data. Last month, Border Patrol apprehended more than 200,000 migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, the highest total this year.
President Joe Biden – who, as a candidate, vowed that there will “not be another foot” of border wall constructed on his watch – has been plagued by issues on the border since his first months in office, when the US faced a surge of unaccompanied migrant children that caught officials flatfooted. Over the last two years, his administration has continued to face fierce pushback from Republicans – and at times, Democrats – over his immigration policies.... Read More: CNN
