Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the White House is considering restarting border wall construction in order to fill in “gaps” that have become apparent during the immigration crisis.
While speaking to Immigration and Customs Enforcement staffers last week, Mayorkas said U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) introduced a plan to his department of what it expects in the future, The Washington Times reported in an exclusive story.
“The president has communicated quite clearly his decision that the emergency that triggered the devotion of DOD funds to the construction of the border wall is ended,” Mayorkas said. “But that leaves room to make decisions as the administration, as part of the administration, in particular areas of the wall that need renovation, particular projects that need to be finished.”
He added that some of it would include “gaps,” “gates” and areas “where the wall has been completed but the technology has not been implemented.”
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As Mayorkas discussed the plan presented by CBP, Mayorkas advised those in the meeting that, “It’s not a single answer to a single question. There are different projects that the chief of the Border Patrol has presented and the acting commissioner of CBP presented to me.”
With record numbers of people coming across the southern border, Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for halting former President Donald Trump’s border wall construction, sending a clear message the border is open.
“We have a tremendous flood of people coming towards our border now because that signals been put out,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) told CBN News last month.
Thousands of unaccompanied children are making the dangerous journey across the southern border, with many carrying phone numbers for relatives in the U.S. they hope to contact once they get into the country.
On Tuesday, Trump called it “a very positive step” by the Biden administration to resume construction of the wall.
“I think it’s great that they reversed themselves, but a lot of damage was done because we were gonna have that wall almost complete. You know, it delayed two and a half years because of lawsuits,” the former president said during an interview on Newsmax.
“We started building it and we were almost finished and then they called an end to it. And it’s, you know, just incredible,” he said. “But if they agree that they’re going to complete it — there’s very little to complete. If they agree that they’re going to complete it, that’s a great thing.”
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