In a surprising policy reversal, President Joe Biden’s administration announced on Thursday its intention to construct additional sections of a border wall in an effort to curb the surge in migrant crossings from Mexico.
The necessity to construct these barriers stems from the fact that funding allocated during the Trump administration for border wall construction would have expired at the end of 2023, necessitating its utilisation to avoid violating legal requirements.
Despite these actions, the Biden administration continues to call on Congress to reconsider and reallocate funding for more effective border security measures, such as border technology, as an alternative to physical barriers.
While Biden initially promised to reverse several of Trump’s immigration policies, the administration retained the COVID-era public health order known as Title 42, which permitted the expulsion of migrants to Mexico without affording them the opportunity to seek asylum.
When Title 42 expired earlier this year, it was replaced with a more stringent rule requiring migrants to schedule appointments via a government-run smartphone app before approaching a legal port of entry or facing tougher asylum criteria if crossing the border illegally.
