Construction on border wall will end this week, fulfilling Biden vow
WASHINGTON — Construction on the border wall is set to end this week, according to South Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, a senior member of the House appropriations committee.
Cuellar, D-laredo, said Customs and Border Protection is halting all of the agency’s contracts for wall construction on Wednesday.
Cuellar said he expects the same is true for the Department of Defense and Army Corps of Engineers contracts as well after President Joe Biden last week signed an executive order ending the national emergency Donald Trump declared at the border in February 2019. Trump used the disaster declaration to gain access to billions of dollars after Congress refused to provide funding for wall construction.
“This is a promising step in our work to halt construction of the ineffective and wasteful border wall and undo the damage that borderlands have experienced these past four years,” Cuellar said in a statement. “However, our work continues. I remain steadfast in my commitment to working with the new administration until every border wall contract is terminated and all construction crews leave our border communities.”
Ending Trump’s emergency declaration was among Biden’s first moves as president; his executive order says that “building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution.”
Biden said his administration’s policy will be that “no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall.” He also announced a review of existing contracts.
The Trump administration completed 415 miles of border wall, with just 30 miles in new areas, the Express-news previously reported. Most of the construction replaced older fencing and vehicle barriers, largely from the El Paso area west to California.
Nonetheless Trump touted the project in a trip to South Texas during his final days in office.
“We can’t let the next administration even think about taking it down,” Trump said. “I don’t think that will happen. I think when you see what it does and how it’s so important for our country, nobody’s going to be touching it.”