From the BBC:
“Biden approves new section of border wall as Mexico
crossings rise”
US President Joe Biden's administration is to build a section
of border wall in southern Texas in an effort to stop rising levels of
immigration. About 20 miles (32km) will be built in Starr County along its
border with Mexico, where officials report high numbers of crossings. Building
a border wall was a signature policy of Donald Trump as president and fiercely
opposed by Democrats.
In 2020, Mr Biden promised he would not build another foot of
wall if elected. His administration passed a proclamation soon after taking
office that said building a wall across the southern border "is not a
serious policy solution". On Thursday, however, Mr Biden said he
"can't stop" the construction of the border wall because the funding
for it had already been appropriated. When asked whether he believes the wall
could work, he replied simply: "no".
In a statement to Associated News on Wednesday night, the US
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) similarly defended the latest move, saying
it was using funds already allocated for a border barrier. "Congress
appropriated fiscal year 2019 funds for the construction of border barrier in
the Rio Grande Valley, and DHS is required to use those funds for their
appropriated purpose," the statement said.
Mr Biden and the statements stand in stark contrast to a
notice about the project on the US Federal Registry in which Homeland Security
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that there is "presently an acute and
immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the
border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the
United States in the project areas".
Speaking at his daily news conference, Mexican President
Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticised the announcement, saying that a wall is
"contrary" to what President Biden had previously advocated. "I
understand there is strong pressure from extreme right-wing political groups in
the United States," he added. The rising number of illegal border
crossings has made the issue a vulnerable one for president Biden. More than
245,000 crossings have been made this year in the Rio Grande Valley area alone,
government data shows, and September is expected to be a record month. Several
US cities say they are feeling the strain of the influx.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams predicted the cost of housing
the more than 100,000 new arrivals since last year will rise to $12bn over the
next three years. Mr Adams is travelling to Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador this
week to discourage migrants from setting out. "We are at capacity,"
he said on Tuesday.
Dozens of federal laws have been waived in order to approve
its construction, including the Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. The
move has angered environmentalists, who say the structures will cut through the
habitats of endangered plants and animals. "It's disheartening to see President
Biden stoop to this level, casting aside our nation's bedrock environmental
laws to build ineffective wildlife-killing border walls," said Laiken
Jordahl, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. According
to a proposal by US Customs and Border Protection, the barriers will consist of
large bollards embedded in a concrete base, as well as gates, cameras and CCTV
equipment. Homeland Security said it would use funding secured during Donald
Trump's presidency to build the new section. It is the first time the Biden
administration has used its powers to approve the construction of new walls -
something that was done often during Mr Trump's time in office, when around 50
miles of new wall was built and 400 miles of existing barriers were upgraded.
In an online post on Thursday, Mr Trump asked if the
president would "apologize to me and America for taking so long to get
moving". "So interesting to watch Crooked Joe Biden break every
environmental law in the book to prove that I was right," he wrote.
"I will await his apology." Mr Biden has been facing increasing
criticism over his immigration policies in the wake of a recent surge of
migrants crossing into the US.
US Border Patrol apprehended 181,059 people along the
southern border in August compared with 132,648 in July, according to the
latest data. Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said that 10,000
people arrived at the border every day last week alone.
^ Remember when a lot of Americans and People around the
World said they were against the US Border Wall back in 2017?
The First US Border Barrier/Wall was built in 1909, expanded
in 1918, expanded in 1929, expanded in the 1940s, expanded in 1978 by President
Jimmy Carter, expanded in the 1992 by President George H. Bush (called the Tortilla
Wall), expanded in 1994 under President Bill Clinton (who also signed the “The
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996”), expanded
in 2006 under President George W. Bush (who also signed “The Secure Fence Act
of 2006”), endorsed by President Barack Obama in 2011, expanded by President
Donald Trump in 2017 (who also signed “Executive Order 13767”) and now expanded
by President Joe Biden in 2023.
Republicans and Democrats have supported and build the US
Border Wall throughout the years (it wasn’t started by Trump.)
As for the EU Member Countries that said they were against
the US Border Wall back in 2017:
Austria (EU)-Italy (EU) (built by Austria in 2015) against
Illegal Immigration
Austria (EU)-Slovenia (EU) (built by Austria in 2015) against
Illegal Immigration
Bulgaria (EU)- Turkey (built by Bulgaria in 2014) 19 Miles
long against Illegal Immigration
UK- Calais, France
(EU) (built by both France and the UK in 2016) against Illegal Immigration
Ceuta, Spain (EU) – Morocco (built by Spain in 2001) 5 Miles
long against Illegal Immigration
Cyprus (EU) -Northern Cyprus (built by Cyprus and the United
Nations in 1964) 111 Miles Long as a Buffer Zone between Warring Countries.
Denmark (EU) – Germany (EU) (built by Denmark in 2019) 50
Miles long against Illegal Immigration and Wildlife Control
Estonia (EU)-Russia (built by Estonia in 2018) 68 Miles long
against Illegal Immigration and Attacks from Russia
Finland (EU)-Russia (built by Finland in 2022) 124 Miles long
against Illegal Immigration and Attacks from Russia
Greece (EU) – Turkey (built by Greece in 2012) 124 Miles long
against Illegal Immigration
North Macedonia – Greece (EU) (built by North Macedonia in
2015) 19 Miles long against Illegal Immigration
Melilla, Spain (EU)-Morocco (built by Spain in 1998) 7 Miles long
against Illegal Immigration
Hungary (EU)-Serbia (built by Hungary in 2015) 109 Miles long
against Illegal Immigration
Hungary (EU)-Croatia (EU) Built by Hungary in 2015) 25 Miles
long against Illegal Immigration
Latvia (EU) – Russia (built by Latvia in 2022) 56 Miles long
against an attack from Russia and Illegal Immigration
Lithuania (EU)-Belarus (built by Lithuania in 2021) 312 Miles
long against Illegal Immigration and an attack from Russia
Lithuania (EU) – Kaliningrad, Russia (built by Lithuania in
2017) 81 Miles long against Illegal Immigration and an attack from Russia
Poland (EU)-Belarus (built by Poland in 2022) 116 Miles long
against Illegal Immigration
Poland (EU)-Kaliningrad, Russia (being built by Poland in
2023) 130 Miles long against Illegal Immigration and an attack from Russia
Slovenia (EU)-Croatia (EU) (built by Slovenia in 2016) 137
Miles long against Illegal Immigration
Gibraltar, UK – Spain (EU) (built by the UK in 1909) 1 Mile
long against Illegal Immigration and an attack from Spain
Between January and August 2023, the United States Border
Patrol apprehended 2,860,127 Illegal Immigrants entering the US (on both the
Northern and Southern Borders) and thousands more are on their way to the
Border to cross Illegally every day.
In 2022 they apprehended 2,766,582 Illegal Immigrants
entering the US (on both the Northern and Southern Borders.)
I guess President Biden and those who said they didn’t
support a Border Wall in 2017 when they thought it was only done by Trump have
now changed their tunes.
This is why you have to learn your History - so you don't look like a Hypocrite later. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.