Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tore into President Joe Biden on social media Friday, telling him to “take responsibility” for the administration's recent decision to continue building a border wall in Texas and to “reverse course.”
On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced that it waived 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow border wall construction in Starr County, a sector of the border that sees “high illegal entry.”
Approximately 245,000 illegal entries have been recorded so far this fiscal year in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, according to government data.
“The Biden administration was not required to expand construction of the border wall — and they certainly were not required to waive several environmental laws to expedite the building," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday. "The President needs to take responsibility for this decision and reverse course.”
Despite the announcement on the resumption of border wall construction, Biden told reporters on Thursday that he doesn’t think entry barriers are effective.
“The money was appropriated for the border wall,” he said, according to the Washington Examiner. “I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. I can’t stop that."
Ocasio-Cortez said walls won’t discourage people from trying to enter the United States, adding that the fencing only increases migrants’ chances of dying.
“A wall does nothing to deter people who are fleeing poverty and violence from coming to the United States,” she said. “You do not risk your life or your children's lives going through the Darien Gap or traversing hundreds of miles of desert if you have any other options. Walls only serve to push migrants into more remote areas, increasing their chances of death. It is a cruel policy.”
The New York Democrat urged the administration to study the root causes of illegal immigration and determine why people are leaving their home countries to make the dangerous journey north. She also said that U.S. sanctions, such as the ones drafted by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Venezuela’s oil and financial sectors, contribute to the problem.
“Instead, the U.S. must take examining the root of migration more seriously, re-examine policy towards Latin America, and stop contributing to the destabilization that drives migration — as Senator Marco Rubio's Venezuela sanctions have done," Ocasio-Cortez said. "We also have to finally invest in meaningful immigration reform."
Biden had previously pledged that “not another foot of wall would be constructed on my administration,” but said he would not tear down walls that had already been built under the Trump administration.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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