(USNewsMag.com) – Squad member and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is demanding that President Joe Biden stop construction on a new section of the border wall, calling it a “cruel policy.”
On Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez wrote that Biden is not “required to expand construction of the border wall” and that expediting the building of the wall by waiving “several environmental laws” was also not required. She stated that Biden needs to “reverse course” in regard to the decision.
Ocasio-Cortez wrote that the wall will not deter those “who are fleeing poverty and violence” from coming into the country. Instead of building the wall, she stated that Biden should focus on the “root of migration.” She added that “meaningful immigration reform” should be the focus of the United States.
On Oct. 5, the Biden administration announced it would restart the construction of the border wall in Starr County, Texas, waiving 26 federal laws in order to quickly construct the almost mile-long border wall. Biden suggested that he was unable to re-appropriate the funds for the border wall, and therefore the money has to be used for what it was appropriated for, stating, “I can’t stop that.” According to US Customs and Border Protection, the funds that will be used to construct the section of border wall were approved in 2019.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a filing posted in the US Federal Registry that there was an “immediate need to construct physical barriers” in the area.
In a statement, Mayorkas said that despite the new construction, “There is no new administration policy with respect to border walls,” adding that the administration still believes “a border wall is not the answer.”
Ocasio-Cortez is not the only Democrat to criticize Biden’s decision. Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost stated Biden’s decision is akin to “sticking our heads in the sand.”
Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called the new border wall construction a “setback,” adding that it “does not solve the problem.”
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