President Biden famously promised not to build “another foot” of border wall during his presidency, but he is willing to spend $950 million to maintain existing infrastructure.
The Biden administration — which reversed course last month and announced it would build a new section of the wall in Texas — earmarked money to repair and upgrade existing border walls in the Lone Star State, California and Arizona, according to court filings.
Customs and Border Protection reported that four separate contracts were awarded for “system attribute restoration and installation work” at sites in Tucson, San Diego, El Paso and El Centro.
The work will include the installation of cameras, new roads and “detection technology” that will make the barrier more effective in stemming the flow of illegal immigrants, the document said.
The rehabilitation works will fill border gaps, install gates, repair nearby patrol roads and address erosion and drainage problems in the immediate area.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas acknowledged this week that 600,000 people illegally entered the United States without being apprehended by border agents between September 2022 and October 1 of this year.
The Biden administration will spend $950 million on maintenance of existing border wall infrastructure. AFP via Getty Images The administration reversed course last month and announced it would build a new section of the wall in Texas.AFP via Getty Images
They join 900,000 people from around the world who were legally admitted at the Southern Border to pursue immigration claims by CBP during the same period.
Money for wall repairs will be taken from the budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, according to papers filed as part of a court declaration signed by Paul Enriquez, an Infrastructure Portfolio Director at the US Border Patrol.
Four separate contracts were awarded for work at sites in Tucson, San Diego, El Paso and El Centro.REUTERS
Anti-wall advocates howled last month after it was revealed the Biden administration had earmarked $229 million for construction of a new 17-mile border wall in Starr County, Texas.
The Department of Homeland Security expedited the process by overriding local environmental and conservation laws that would otherwise have prolonged construction.
Administration officials defended the allocation, arguing that the money had been earmarked for wall work in Congress and that Biden had little choice to use it.
The Biden administration is allocating $229 million for the construction of 17 miles of new border wall in Texas.REUTERS
But environmentalists say the environmental roadblocks are at odds with Biden’s anti-wall posture.
The administration awarded the Starr County project contract to SLSCO Ltd. based in Galveston, a firm that is building the border wall under the Trump administration.
“Clearly DHS under the Biden administration has no more respect for border residents than under the Trump administration,” Scott Nicol, a longtime anti-wall activist and researcher and board member of the Valley-based Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, told the Texas Observer.
“Biden should use the remaining funds to mitigate some of the damage the border wall has done, not waste hundreds of millions of dollars to cause more destruction.”
Local Starr County officials have questioned the placement of the new wall in their area, asserting that it is sparsely populated and environmentally sensitive.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
