While running for president, Joe Biden bitterly fought efforts by then-President Donald Trump to construct a wall along America's southern border.
Yet despite his prior opposition, Biden appears ready to surrender on the issue as blue cities see a backlash over growing numbers of illegal migrants.
As Reuters reported, the White House revealed late last week that it will make use of funds allocated by Congress in 2019 to construct an additional 20 miles worth of border wall.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas justified the move in a Federal Registry notice.
He explained that "[t]here 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."
Further, USA Today reported that 26 federal laws have been temporarily waived in order expedite the construction process.
However, Reuters noted how Mayorkas was quick to issue a statement in which he insisted that there is "no new Administration policy with respect to border walls."
Still, critics did not hesitate to recall how the president once denounced his predecessor's attempt at building a wall as being "wasteful."
Folks, it really is all about the receipts—all day/every day 🤩💯 https://t.co/xhraM6OLa1
— Kathie has all the #Receipts💅ツ✿🇺🇸🐻🧡✝️ (@MustangGirl3) October 6, 2023
Nor was such rhetoric unique to Biden, as Vice President Kamala Harris also slammed prior wall construction as "Trump's medieval vanity project."
Congress did not appropriate these funds for Trump's medieval vanity project. Let's be clear: Trump's wall has never been about keeping the American people safe. https://t.co/tlZ9GRp7Wd
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 27, 2019
The policy change was not well received by some liberals, including Guardian columnist Moustafa Bayoumi. He asked in an article published on Friday, "Why is Joe Biden campaigning for Donald Trump?"
"This is like throwing red meat to Trump’s base, who will chomp and salivate over what they will portray as an admission of defeat by the Democrats on securing the border," Bayoumi insisted.
Still, the evidence suggests that concern over immigration and border security is by no means limited to conservatives, with an NBC News poll finding that voters trust Republicans to handle those issues over Democrats by an 18-point margin.
