WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — After announcing that construction of the border wall would continue, the Biden administration says it’s not happy about that fact.
The administration says it would prefer other border security measures and asking congress to act.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the 100 million people currently displaced around the world creates a huge global problem, calling it “the largest migration challenge of all time.”
That migration is why the Department of Homeland Security recently filed paperwork stating there is an “Acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers” along the southern border.
But in a seeming contradiction, administration officials also insist a border wall won’t work.
“Our position has never wavered,” DHS Secretary Alexandro Mayorkas said. “The language in the federal register notice is being taken out of context.”
The administration says it’s forced to continue building the border wall because of legislation Congress passed under President Trump in 2019, with President Biden noting, “I can’t say I don’t like it, that I’m not going to do it.”
Secretary Mayorkas says the administration wants a smarter and more comprehensive approach, including “state of the art border surveillance technology and modernized ports of entry.”
“It’s been pretty clear that president Biden isn’t interested in bipartisanship as anything other than a talking point, until it’s his last option,” says Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD). “Of course we should be willing to secure the southern border, we’re glad to have the president’s help in doing so, we wish it would have come earlier.”