The newspaper reported that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said to Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had advised him on how to proceed with the “gaps,” “gates,” and segments “where the wall has been completed but the technology has not been implemented.”
“The president has communicated quite clearly his decision that the emergency that triggered the devotion of [U.S. Department of Defense] funds to the construction of the border wall is ended,” Mayorkas said, according to The Times.
“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.”
Mayorkas was referring to President Trump’s controversial decision to reappropriate $3.8 billion from the military to the border security system.
The report follows criticism of the Biden administration’s immigration policies by local officials and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.
According to an AP-NORC poll conducted March 25-29, 44 percent of American adults approve of Biden’s handling of border security while 55 percent disapprove. In a similar vein, 42 percent approve of the president’s handling of immigration while 56 percent disapprove, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percent.
The same poll reported that 45 percent of Americans were extremely or very concerned about illegal immigration, 27 percent were moderately concerned, and 26 percent were not at all concerned.
Americans gave Biden higher marks on his handling of other issues, including foreign policy. 55 percent approve of his job performance as it relates to foreign policy, while 43 percent disapprove.
In the final days of his administration, Trump expressed his dismay at the possibility that Biden might end the border wall project, calling the potential consequences an “entirely preventable tragedy waiting to happen.” Biden’s presidential campaign website currently refers to the border wall project as Trump’s “obsession.”
State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Canton) introduced legislation in March that would finish construction of the wall on the state’s dime. House Bill 2862 is pending in the Texas House State Affairs Committee.
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Hayden Sparks
Hayden Sparks is a senior reporter for The Texan and a lifelong resident of the Lone Star State. He has coached competitive speech and debate and has been involved in politics since a young age. One of Hayden's favorite quotes is by Sam Houston: "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
