Since Joe Biden became president, the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States has skyrocketed. For example, according to official statistics, in 2022, a record number of encounters with immigrants who tried to cross the southern border illegally was reached. A little more than two years into the administration, Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, has now recognized the "acute and immediate need" to build a border wall.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an announcement in the Federal Register, in which they describe how they are trying to circumvent at least 26 federal laws, including the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, to resume construction of the border wall in the sector of Rio Grande Valley, where they assure that there is "a high level of illegal entry."
"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 pursuant to sections 102(a) and 102(b) of [the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996]," said Mayorkas.
#BREAKING | DHS Secretary @SecMayorkas said there is an “acute and immediate need” to build border wall in southern Texas. #BidenBorderCrisispic.twitter.com/zSEbV1Huty
— VOZ (@Voz_US) October 5, 2023
The publication came in an immigration context that reached record numbers on the southern border and Republican and Independent criticism of Joe Biden. For example, according to Fox News, more than 260,000 border encounters were recorded in September, the highest monthly total on record.
This rhetorical and practical flexibility on the border is not popular among Independent voters. As reported by Voz Media, 74% of undecided people believe that illegal immigration in the United States is getting worse, which is not far from the 71% of all respondents to a Harvard Harris survey.
The survey found that the current commander-in-chief has abysmal numbers in terms of his management of immigration. Immigration is the third most important issue for voters, at 24%, after inflation and the economy and employment. The president only obtained 36% approval for these issues, causing concern in the White House almost a year before the 2024 elections.
President Biden stopped the construction of the border wall in 2021, to the point that he promised that "Not one more foot of wall would be built during my administration." According to officials at the time, this Trump-era initiative was "just one example of the previous administration's misguided priorities and its inability to manage migration in a safe, orderly and humane manner."
