Earlier this month, Joe Biden’s administration announced that it will be expanding the Mexican border wall that the Trump administration began building in 2018. Biden has asserted that the continuation of the border wall does not technically violate his campaign promise to halt the allocation of American tax dollars to the building of the wall because the current construction is only using funds already allocated to the project. In other words, there were existing funds dedicated to building the wall, and Biden has been using those to move forward with Trump’s plan.
This might be a passable line of reasoning, seeing as the funds already allocated to the wall cannot be used elsewhere. However, Biden has waived 26 Texas construction laws in order to further progress on the wall, which seriously brings into question his motivations for this decision. In addition, resuming construction of the wall is cause for serious environmental concerns, as it will disrupt the habitat of hundreds of species along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Biden Administration has stated that these issues will be addressed, but has not elaborated on how.
Since 54% of Americans feel that the issue of illegal immigration makes their own lives more challenging (somehow?), immigration will be a huge topic for the upcoming 2024 election. With that in mind, Biden’s inconsistent words and actions on the matter could be a tactic to appeal to Republican voters (though he also risks taking harsh criticism from Democrats for doing so).
In addition to his promise to end the use of tax dollars for wall construction, Biden has stated that he plans to ease the immigration process so as to allow more migrants to legally enter the United States. Part of this promise materialized in an attempt to pass an immigration reform bill in Congress, but it failed. Conversely, Biden has held firm in keeping Title 42, an extreme Trump-era, anti-immigration policy, in place until its official expiration, then replaced it with an even tougher rule with more severe consequences. In other words: The math ain’t mathin’.
Making matters worse, President Biden resumed flights dedicated to Venezuelan deportation (despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country forcing people to flee to the United States), and has failed to condemn Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s rampant mistreatment of immigrants. Taken all together, Biden’s plan of attack for easing the process of immigration and opening American borders to migrants seems contrary to his campaign promises. The discrepancy between words and actions is something for voters to keep a close eye on in the months leading up to the election.
(featured image: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Published: Oct 18, 2023 05:34 pm