In reversal, Biden approves border wall

The Biden administration is waiving 26 federal laws to fast-track border wall construction in South Texas, marking the administration's first use of a sweeping executive power used often during the Trump presidency and a major reversal from the administration's previous stance that no more border wall would be constructed.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted the announcement on the US Federal Registry on Wednesday with few details outlining the construction in Starr County, which is part of a busy Border Patrol sector seeing "high illegal entry".

The agency says there so far this year there have been more than 245,000 illegal entries in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, which contains 21 counties.

The wall project contradicts Biden's previous promise to end such construction.

"Building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution," he said in a proclamation to stop the building on Jan 20, 2021.

But US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) said that the construction, which could add up to 20 miles of barriers to the existing wall in the area, doesn't violate that proclamation.

"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," CBP said in a statement. "CBP remains committed to protecting the nation's cultural and natural resources and will implement sound environmental practices as part of the project covered by this waiver."

Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary, stated in the notice:

"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."

One of Donald Trump's biggest campaign promises was to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, and his administration constructed about 450 miles of border barriers between 2017 and January 2021.

In response to the move, Trump accused Biden of breaking "every environmental law in the book to prove that I was right" in a post on his Truth Social platform Thursday morning.

"As I have stated often, over thousands of years, there are only two things that have consistently worked, wheels, and walls!" Trump wrote.

"Will Joe Biden apologize to me and America for taking so long to get moving and allowing our country to be flooded with 15 million illegal immigrants, from places unknown," he added. "I will await his apology!"

There was no response from the White House.

The announcement of the wall comes as the Biden administration is getting growing calls for more action from liberal states and cities that have been overwhelmed by the escalating numbers, including ways to limit illegal immigrants from entering the US.

The administration has said Congress needs to provide more funding and pass legislation to fix the "broken" system with which it says it is working.

The announcement marks the first time the Biden administration has used the REAL ID Act waiver authority.

The Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act were some of the federal laws waived by DHS to make way for construction.

The waivers avoid time-consuming reviews and lawsuits challenging violation of environmental laws.

Starr County's hilly ranchlands, sitting between Zapata and McAllen, Texas, is home to about 65,000 residents sparsely populating about 1,200 square miles (3,108 square kilometers) that form part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

CBP quietly announced plans for the additional wall construction in the RGV Sector in June, and began gathering public comments in August when it shared a map of the additional construction that can add up to 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the existing border barrier system in the area.

Starr County Judge Eloy Vera said it will start south of the Falcon Dam and go past Saline?o, Texas.

"The concern that we have is that area is highly erosive. There's a lot of arroyos [steep-sided gullies]" Vera said, pointing out the creeks cutting through the ranchland and leading into the river.

Environmental advocates say wall structures will run through public lands, habitats of endangered plants and species like the Ocelot, a spotted wild cat.

"A plan to build a wall through will bulldoze an impermeable barrier straight through the heart of that habitat. It will stop wildlife migrations dead in their tracks. It will destroy a huge amount of wildlife refuge land. And it's a horrific step backwards for the borderlands," Laiken Jordahl, a southwest conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, said Wednesday.

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott renewed those efforts after the White House halted them at the start of Biden's presidency.

The wall announcement prompted political debate as the Democratic administration faces an increase of migrants entering through the southern border in recent months.

"A border wall is a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem. It will not bolster border security in Starr County," Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar said in a statement. "I continue to stand against the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars on an ineffective border wall."

Political proponents of the border wall said the waivers should be used as a launching pad for a shift in policy.

"After years of denying that a border wall and other physical barriers are effective, the DHS announcement represents a sea change in the administration's thinking: A secure wall is an effective tool for maintaining control of our borders," Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said in a statement. "Having made that concession, the administration needs to immediately begin construction of wall across the border to prevent the illegal traffic from simply moving to other areas of the border."

Agencies contributed to this story.