On Thursday, Joe Biden’s administration authorized specific gaps in Trump’s wall between Mexico and the United States be completed.
The project, which was approved by Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, seeks to close gaps near Yuma, Arizona. This specific area of the wall is the third-busiest area for illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and human trafficking.
While on the campaign trail, and upon immediately taking office, Joe Biden halted all construction of the border wall. However, the reason for the sudden reversal may be due to Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. He is currently having to defend his seat, and closing gaps to stem the flow of illegal migration is a top priority.
The announcement also comes after Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser publically complained about the influx of illegal migrants entering the DC area. For the past three months, Arizona and Texas have sent over 150 busses carrying over 4,000 migrants to DC.
Bowser said while requesting help from the National Guard, “With pledges from Texas and Arizona to continue these abhorrent operations indefinitely, the situation is dire, and we consider this a humanitarian crisis — one that could overwhelm our social support network without immediate and sustained federal intervention.”
She went on to say, “We’ve had a number of discussions. We’ve facilitated FEMA’s involvement with a million-dollar grant that has now been increased to work with a lead nonprofit agency. We’ve facilitated using those grant funds to set up respite center in a neighboring jurisdiction and I’ve also asked the Secretary of the Army to deploy the D.C. National Guard to help lead that effort.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded to her complaint by saying, “D.C. is experiencing a fraction of the disastrous impact the border crisis has caused Texas.”
