No more tax dollars will be spent on the border wall
President Biden has scrapped a national emergency order issued by Donald Trump that funded a border wall with Mexico.
“Build the wall” became a slogan almost as synonymous with the Trump campaign as “Make America Great Again”.
As far back as 2016, when Trump was running against Hilary Clinton for the presidency, he promised to “build the wall and make Mexico pay for it”.
A man reads a tweet from U.S. President Trump on his iPhone which refers to the planned wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)Trump’s Executive Order 13767 signed in January 2017 vowed to make the wall a reality.
In 2019, the now former president declared a state of emergency, which allowed him to bypass Congress and use military funds towards the wall’s construction.
But now it looks like the wall won’t be going up after all. President Biden has now cut funding for the project from the national emergency order, meaning no more money will be spent on its construction.
It’s just as well, for the American public, as it had already become clear their tax dollars were propping up the wall – not money from Mexico.
In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Biden wrote: “I have determined that the declaration of a national emergency at our southern border was unwarranted.”
The 46th President of the United States added: “I have also announced that it shall be the policy of my administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall, and that I am directing a careful review of all resources appropriated or redirected to that end.”
News of Biden’s move was viewed as a step in the right direction by the American Civil Liberties Union.
In a statement, its staff attorney Dror Ladin said: “Ending Trump’s sham emergency declaration is a good start, but just hitting the brakes isn’t enough. Trump’s wall devastated border communities, the environment, and tribal sites.
“It’s time for the Biden administration to step up for border communities, and commit to mitigating environmental damage and tearing down the wall.”
