House Republicans have declared that they will start work again on the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border if they win control of the House in the midterm elections, the Washington Examiner reported on Monday.
When he entered the White House in January, President Joe Biden halted construction of new sections of the border wall, one of former President Donald Trump’s major projects.
The GOP apparently plans to make border security a top campaign issue for the midterms next year.
The topic has become a significant concern among voters recently as thousands of unaccompanied minors have swarmed across the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum after Biden became president.
A new Fox News poll of 1,000 registered voters found that 46% of respondents believe the border situation is worse under Biden than it was during the Trump administration, while only 15% said it is better.
Among those surveyed, 56% said they believe Biden is completely or mostly to blame for the sharp rise in illegal border migration.
Encouraging the Republicans even more to stress the situation on the southern border as a major campaign issue for the elections next year is the fact that the poll also showed that Biden has his worst job ratings on border security and immigration.
Only 34% approve of his performance on immigration, with 52% disapproving, while there are nearly identical numbers regarding border security (35% approve, 51% disapprove).
House Conference Committee Chairwoman Liz Cheney said at the Republican issues retreat in Orlando that "I think we need to look at every possible tool" to secure the southern border. "That includes the wall, and it includes technology and being able to move again toward agreements where people who are seeking asylum stay in Mexico," according to the Washington Examiner.
Cheney’s approval of restarting work on the border wall is significant, because she is among the most vocal Republican leaders to oppose Trump’s involvement in party politics and also voted to impeach him in January on the charge that he incited an insurrection in the Capitol riot in January.
Cheney’s view illustrates that all Republican representatives, even those that do not support Trump, agree that his border wall construction was an effective way to help control the surge in illegal border crossings and say it should resume.
When Biden stopped new border wall construction, he even halted work in places where the federal government had paid for and delivered construction materials to the border, the Examiner reported. That decision has left large gaps in the wall and construction materials laying on the ground nearby.
"We've already purchased the materials," said Republican Rep. Richard Hudson. "They're already sitting on the job site, and we are paying the contractors, now, to not build the wall."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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