A portion of the uncompleted border wall.Photo: Micah Garen/Getty
The government under Trump completed about 452 miles of border wall since the project began in 2017, though almost all of that involved upgrading existing barriers. TIME reports that the previous administration built only47 miles of new wall.
There were some 650 miles of wall before Trump took office,according to the BBC. (The southern border also features geographic obstacles, including the Rio Grande.)
According toThe New York Times, most of the most recent, incomplete construction — which took place in January, shortly before Trump left office — will do little to deter immigrants from entering the U.S. But the barriers could prove dangerous in other ways: The construction sites increased erosion risk and, later this year, the potential for landslides.
Some of the walling stands totally alone. One such example is a quarter-mile fragment of border wall in Arizona’s Huachuca Mountains. TheTimesreported this week that not only is the piece of wall in an area in which migrants rarely attempt to cross into the U.S., it can easily be walked around on either side.
On his first day in office after defeating Trump, PresidentJoe Bidenissued a proclamationhalting construction on the wallfor 60 days and diverting the funds used to build it until Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas determined how to proceed.
U.S.-Mexico border fence at El Paso, Texas.Greg E Mathieson Sr/MAI/Shutterstock
In addition to the political implications, there are also a number of technical issues such as the erosion risks.
In addition to the unfinished construction, the Biden administration has also inherited a number of outstanding (and expensive)contracts. The Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Homeland Security are reportedly working together to determine what to do with those contracts and the expensive equipment that’s no longer in use.
There’s also the question of long-term upkeep, whichThe Washington Postreported last year could go into the billions (thePostalso reported that Congress had not been briefed on projected maintenance costs).
Nonetheless, Biden is being needled with calls from Republicans to finish construction, which theTimesreported is one of the costliest projects in the country, thanks to its $15 billion price tag.
In a series oftweetsin late February, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote that various “holes” in the wall exist because “the Biden Administration refuses to finish construction.”
The question of what to do with Trump’s unfinished border wall comes amid a deepening migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border — the latest startling surge in migrants in what has become a cycle in recent years.
Many of the migrantsalso hope to finda more receptive president under Biden than with Trump.
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Calling the unfolding situation at the border “a big problem,” the White House recently announced it wasworking with FEMAto help transfer migrant children from overcrowded facilities to temporary shelters.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki pointed towardDonald Trump’s administration, which she said left “a dismantled and unworkable system and, like any other problem, we are going to do everything we can to solve it.”
On Wednesday, a group of Republicans including Graham held a press conference criticizing Biden for the border situation and hisimmigration plan.
source: people.com
