Americas

Trump Mocks Biden Over Migrant Border U-Turn, Quips Only 'Wheels & Walls' Work

Ex-President Donald Trump's signature border wall construction was brought to a halt in 2021, when Joe Biden took office and gutted the project. However, amid an unprecedented wave of illegal immigration into the US via the southern border with Mexico, the construction will now go ahead, using Trump-era funds.
Sputnik
Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination in the 2024 presidential race, took a crack at Joe Biden over his U-turn on the US border wall on Thursday, while also demanding "an apology" from POTUS.

"Will Joe Biden apologize to me and America for taking so long to get moving, and allowing our country to be flooded with 15 million illegals immigrants, from places unknown? I will await his apology!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

He added:

"So interesting to watch Crooked Joe Biden break every environmental law in the book to prove that I was right when I built 560 miles (they incorrectly state 450 in story!) of brand new, beautiful border wall... As I have stated often, over thousands of years, there are only two things that have consistently worked, wheels, and walls!”

Joe Biden’s promise of not building “another foot” of US border wall has not aged well, as his administration is now set to erect a section in southern Texas. As the migrant crisis of his own making rages on, and the US-Mexico border has seen record numbers of illegal entries, about 20 miles (32 km) of the wall will be built in Starr County. This section along America’s border with Mexico has seen particularly high numbers of migrant crossings, according to official data.
Americas
Biden Insists Walls Don't Work as DHS Reverses Course on Trump's Border Barrier
According to the US president, the only reason that prompted him to U-turn on the issue was the need to follow through on funds already appropriated by Congress for his predecessor Donald Trump’s signature physical barrier. Apparently, the administration was facing a deadline to use the funds or lose them. As his own administration will now be waiving 26 laws to build the additional border sections, Biden told reporters he had agreed to this despite being convinced that the wall doesn’t work.

"I’ll answer one question on the border wall: The border wall – the money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didn’t, they wouldn’t. And in the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can’t stop that."

In the latest verbal to-and-fro regarding Biden planning to build more US border wall using Trump-era funds, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dropped a clanger, as she claimed she was in the dark regarding the issue.
After Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced there was an "acute and immediate need" to waive 26 federal regulations to allow for the construction of new border wall sections, reporters quizzed a deflecting Jean-Pierre.
Screenshot of X post featuring footage of White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Claiming she hadn't seen the DHS statement, she regurgitated Biden’s longtime stance that "he doesn't believe [a wall] is effective." Critics mocked Jean-Pierre on social media, slamming her as a "joke," and wondering if she was "incompetent" or "shamelessly" lying.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden said that Trump’s slogan "build the wall" was "divorced from reality." Later, Biden said "not another foot" of the Mexico border wall would be constructed if he were elected.

“We need to: Build bridges, not walls. Open our arms, not clench our fists,” Biden said.

Building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution,” Biden said in his January 20, 2021 statement after assuming the top office, and wasted no time issuing a flurry of immigration-related executive orders, including putting a halt on construction of Trump’s border wall.
"Opening arms" apparently did not work well for the Democrat POTUS, as the country's border has been flooded with illegal migrants, leaving border services swamped, border towns overrun, and budget coffers strained.
Americas
Trump Slams Biden’s Border Crisis, Says ‘Our Country is Being Invaded’
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