People are angry at President Joe Biden because he decided to build a new border wall in Texas. Both Republicans and Democrats are upset about this.
Mr Biden said he couldn’t stop the work because the money for it was approved when Donald Trump was president.
People in his political party said that building walls is not effective, while the opposing party accused him of being hypocritical.
They will build about 20 miles (32km) of walls in a area where there are not many people near the Rio Grande Valley.
When Mr Biden was running for president in 2020, he said he wouldn’t make any new wall if he won. He said it was not a good solution to the problem.
But on Wednesday, his administration used its broad authority to exempt over 25 federal laws, including laws that protect animals, to permit the construction of additional barriers along the US-Mexico border in southern Texas.
In a message explaining these exceptions, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there was a pressing and urgent requirement for the building work.
This made both major parties, environmental activists, and human rights groups criticize it quickly.
I attempted to convince them to use the money in a different way. Biden said that they did not do it and they would not do it. “I am unable to prevent it. ”
He said again that he doesn’t believe border walls work.
Mr Mayorkas said no to the idea that the government had changed its border policy by approving the new construction.
“He said that the government doesn’t think a border wall is the solution. ” “We still believe the same thing and we have never changed our mind. ”
However, the comments did not help stop the criticism from any point of view.
On Thursday, the government said it would start sending back about 50,000 people from Venezuela who crossed the border between the US and Mexico illegally.
More and more people moving to cities like New York has become a problem for the president. He has been criticized a lot for how he has dealt with the border.
US authorities have captured and held over 2. 2 million people who crossed the US-Mexico border since last October.
Donald Trump, the ex-president, really wanted to make a wall at the border. But Mr Biden and other Democrats really didn’t like the idea.
Donald Trump himself stated that the new building project serves as evidence supporting his previous claims of being correct.
“Will Joe Biden say sorry to me and America for being slow to get started. ” he said in a message on his Truth Social website on Thursday.
Republicans were also upset with Mr. Biden because they believe he suddenly changed his positions on certain policies that he had campaigned against.
“He believed that walls are ineffective, which is completely crazy,” said North Carolina Republican Representative Ralph Norman in an interview with the BBC. “What’s different now. Let me explain what’s different – the American people are not happy and fed up with their cities being taken over. ”
Democrats, on the other hand, criticized the president.
Representative Henry Cuellar, who represents Starr County where the new building will happen, told the BBC that he does not think the people he represents will be pleased with the news.
He said he is still against using an old solution from the 14th century, which is called “the wall”, to solve a problem in the 21st century. “I would like to have more people and better technology. ”
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the policy was mean and asked President Biden to change his mind.
The Biden administration is receiving criticism from organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for its decision, which they consider a significant failure.