‘Views change’ | Adriano Espaillat discusses Biden reversing 2020 campaign position on border wall

The Biden administration announced they waived 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow border wall construction on Wednesday, marking the administration’s first use of a sweeping executive power employed often during the Trump presidency.

The Department of Homeland Security posted the announcement on the U.S. Federal Registry with few details outlining the construction in Starr County, Texas, which is part of a busy Border Patrol sector seeing “high illegal entry.” According to government data, about 245,000 illegal entries have been recorded in this region during the current fiscal year.

“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,” Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary, stated in the notice.

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 that will use funds from a congressional appropriation in 2019 for border wall 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.

[martinfierro]

What a pathetic guy!!!🤷🏻‍♂️
Corrective action too late. The damage is already done!🤦🏻‍♂️

[joeyshrum]

I agree with spending the money wisely. If this fentanyl is coming in through points of entry 90% by our own citizens there might just something else going on here

[lady]

But y'all said the wall was racist

[DavidSanchez-lpsi]

I wonder if he has a wall around his house, i wonder if it works to keep people out of his yard?

[jlert]

Term limits would have prevented the biden problem

[christopherthompson]

Wow really have many seat sir you are the problem and keep making bad moves. You lie because you say that drugs don't flow as massive over the boarder from a non of point of entry that's because that's all we catch from the one coming from non entry point he lies not to mention the thousand up on thousands of dollar a day.