[Levin]

10/04/2023 07:48 PM EDT

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

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During the Trump administration, about 450 miles of barriers were built along the southwest border between 2017 and January 2021. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott renewed those efforts after the Biden administration halted them at the start of his presidency.

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The DHS decision on Wednesday contrasts with a Jan. 20, 2021 Biden administration proclamation to end the construction that stated, “building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution.”


https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/04...s-00120045

[Levin]

The politics of Biden’s border U-turn
By CALDER MCHUGH and CHARLIE MAHTESIAN  10/05/2023 07:30 PM EDT


On Wednesday evening, the Biden administration put out the call: Build The Wall.

The administration announced that it was waiving 26 federal laws in order to allow the construction of Trump’s border wall to continue in Texas, breaking a key campaign promise as he attempts to stem growing complaints from both parties about a worsening migrant crisis.

And today, senior administration officials announced that they would resume deportation flights to Venezuela, with 240,000 Venezuelans expected to be deported.

The actions are a sudden change in direction for Biden, who vowed on the campaign trail that there would “not be another foot” of border wall built. They’re also a tacit acknowledgment that the administration is getting swamped on the politics of border security.

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top Democrats in three of the bluest states in the nation — Illinois, Massachusetts and New York — pressure the administration for action amid increasing arrivals of migrants. Thousands of those migrants have been flown and bused to their states over the past year by Republican governors in protest of Biden administration immigration policies.

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Recent polling suggests public sentiment toward immigration in general has turned in recent years — and the Democratic Party’s standing on the issue has deteriorated. In May 2020, according to Gallup, 26 percent of those polled said the level of immigration should be decreased. When Gallup asked the same question in June, that number had risen to 41 percent.

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Just 27 percent of registered voters said that Democrats better handle the issue of immigration while 45 percent said Republicans better handle the issue.

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When asked which party would do a better job of dealing with border security, 50 percent said the GOP, compared to just 20 percent who said Democrats would do a better job

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So despite his insistence that a border wall won’t work, Biden’s building one. One major difference between him and his predecessor? Biden’s not insisting Mexico will pay for it.


https://www.politico.com/newsletters/pol...n-00120278