Biden Admin Resumes Border Wall Levee Construction as Crisis Worsens
United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will restart construction
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Joe Biden's administration is resuming the construction of the southern border wall levee as the immigration crisis continues to spiral out of control, according to reports.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is restarting construction on a 13.4 mile stretch of the levee in the Rio Grande Valley.
The decision reportedly follows pressure to stop the incessant migrant crossing surge from local residents and politicians.
Priority repairs to prevent flooding are set to begin in six weeks.
The establishment of a concrete levee wall fit with safety barriers will then follow in six to nine months.
The USACE clarified that, for the time being, the wall will not be expanded on and works will only repair the Rio Grande flood levee.
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"Wall construction remains paused to extent permitted by law," USACE stated on Twitter.
"Per DHS, we’ve started critical work to repair the Rio Grande Valley’s flood levee, which was excavated to make way for border wall.
"This remediation work will not involve expanding border barrier."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) explained in a statement that repairs will "protect border communities from physical dangers" left in the wake of the construction.
The statement claims that "large holes" were blown into the Rio Grande Valley's flood barrier system to make way for the wall which, as a result, requires repairing to prevent "catastrophic flooding."
UPDATE: @FoxNews has confirmed via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that construction on a 13.4 mile stretch of border wall levee in the Rio Grande Valley will *RESUME* after pressure from local residents & politicians.
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 13, 2021
The Biden admin previously halted all construction.
One of Joe Biden’s first executive orders once taking office immediately halted all border wall construction.
Since his January 20 inauguration, the migrant surge has worsened, as the number of illegal crossings continues to skyrocket and holding facilities have threatened public health in the midst of a pandemic.
According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), there were a total of 178,622 migrant encounters in April 2021, marking the highest monthly total in 20 years.
Members of the Mexican military were spotted in Del Rio, Texas, for the first time on Wednesday, patrolling the opposite shoreline and detaining migrants with plans of crossing the Rio Grande.
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Del Rio, Texas Mayor Bruno Lozano, a Democrat, sounded off on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday expressing concern for the worsening crisis and the administration's failure to control it.
"They keep telling us that the border is under control and I simply do not understand how with a 392% increase this fiscal year alone," he said.
"Last year, we had 19,724 captures at this point.
"And right now we're at 97,398.
"I simply do not understand how that's under control."
