By Jerald Jimenez
05 Oct 2023, 1:45 PM EDT
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, acknowledged this Thursday that he does not have the ability to prevent the wall erected on the border with Mexico from being strengthened, although he stated that he does not believe it is an effective solution to stop the migratory flow.
In a meeting at the White House with his National Security advisors, the president indicated that the budget allocated for the border wall cannot be used for other purposes.
“I tried to get that budget reallocated, redirected. They didn’t do it. They will not. Meanwhile, the law does not establish anything other than using the money for what it was intended. “I can’t stop that,” declared the Democratic leader.
The skepticism expressed by Biden about reinforcing the border comes a day after his government ordered that barrier be reinforced in one of the areas where irregular migrant crossings have been recorded the most.
The construction work, which is being carried out in several areas of the Rio Grande Valley, is expected to include the construction of both physical barriers and roads to “prevent the irregular entry” of migrants into the United States, according to a document published by the registry. federal.
The funds allocated for this work were approved by Congress in 2019, when Donald Trump still led the White House.
The border area, located southeast of Texas, is the second area where the most detentions of migrants have been recorded in recent months, according to data from the Customs and Border Control Office (CBP).
Between October 2022 and August 2023, US authorities have detained more than 245,000 people there who have attempted to cross the border.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will exempt compliance with more than twenty federal laws in order to carry out this effort, including regulations related to environmental protections, public health and cultural conservation.
The controversial immigration proposal comes just when the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, traveled to Mexico to address the immigration and fentanyl crisis with the country’s authorities.