Biden mocked over Trump wall climbdown
President agrees to bridge gaps in southern border amid public outcry over influx of immigrants
‘The work will better protect migrants who get hurt slipping down a slope or drown walking through the Colorado river’
‘Yuma has become the new Ellis Island for Arizona, with people arriving from Cuba, Ethiopia, Russia, Ukraine and India’
JOE BIDEN’S administration has been ridiculed by Republicans for quietly agreeing to complete Donald Trump’s border wall in one of the most popular spots for illegal crossings.
The US president promised that there would “not be another foot of wall constructed” on his watch during the 2020 election campaign.
But on Thursday the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement it had agreed to complete the wall in an open area of southern Arizona near Yuma, where four wide gaps make it among the busiest corridors for illegal crossings from Mexico.
Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, pressed for the gaps to be filled in as he is one of the most vulnerable senators in this year’s elections. Border security remains a potent issue for candidates of both parties going into this year’s primary elections.
“For too long, the Morelos Dam area has been an operational challenge for border patrol agents to properly secure the border and keep our communities safe,” Mr Kelly said. Officials said the work to complete the project near the dam would “better protect migrants who can get hurt slipping down a slope or drown walking through a low section of the Colorado River”.
The move was ridiculed by Republicans, who have used immigration control to pummel the Biden administration in the run-up to November’s midterm elections.
Sean Hannity, a high-profile Trump ally and Fox News anchor, said: “Sounds like Biden has changed his mind.”
Immigration has become an increasingly problematic issue for the Biden administration, which pledged to adopt humane policies but faces public outcry over the high number of illegal crossings along the southern border.
With Democrats on course to lose control of one or both chambers of Congress in November, Democrats in border districts, such as Mr Kelly, have pushed the Biden administration to take a tougher stance.
The Arizona senator has become increasingly critical of Mr Biden, calling the influx of migrants into his state a “crisis” and pledging to “continue holding this administration accountable.”
However, the plan has been criticised by Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Us-mexico Border Program, who said he was “worried” by it.
Yuma’s border sector is the third busiest crossing for migrants, who can easily walk across the river to surrender to border officials.
Officers in the area have made more than 160,000 stops between January and June of this year, according to Fox News – almost a fourfold increase on last year. The move to resume construction of the border wall has been criticised by conservationists, who argue that the measures will do little to achieve their stated aim.
Myles Traphagen, an Arizona environmentalist, said the Yuma area had “become the new Ellis Island for Arizona, with people arriving there from countries as disparate as Ethiopia, Cuba, Russia, Ukraine, India, Colombia and Nicaragua”. He added: “People have travelled halfway around the globe on planes, trains and automobiles, so to expect that closing four small gaps is going to make them turn around and book a return flight on Air Ethiopia is sheer fallacy.”
Karine Jean-pierre, the White House press secretary, defended the administration’s approach. She said: “We are not finishing the wall. We are cleaning up the mess the prior administration left behind.”
Separately, the Biden administration has plans to construct two 30ft border barriers through San Diego’s Friendship Park, the south-westernmost corner of the United States, where separated families have come to meet for decades.