As Border Crisis Surges, Biden Auctions Off Border Wall Building Materials

On the afternoon of Friday, August 18, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly released the latest U.S. southern border numbers, which indicate that the number of migrant apprehensions surged 33% in July over the previous month of June. At the same time, reports surfaced Sunday that the Biden administration is auctioning off unused border wall materials as a result of President Biden halting the wall’s construction on his first day in office in January 2021.

The Border Patrol reported capturing over 132,000 individuals trying to cross the border in July, with officials saying the volume of families with young children is seeing a significant rise over previous months. The number of children encountered at the border almost doubled in July from the previous month, with over 60,000 reported.

During testimony before Congress in July, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed that “unlawful entries … have consistently decreased” along the southern border. However, Mayorkas was likely referring to the fact that his department allows foreign nationals to “schedule” their arrival at a port of entry through a mobile app called CBP One, which then allows them to be released into the U.S. without acquiring a visa or other entry permit. Breitbart reported Sunday that almost 200,000 migrants have been released into the U.S. since the beginning of the year by DHS simply by using the CBP One app.

All told, since President Biden took office, there have been 5.5 million illegal migrant encounters at the southern border. Of these, the Biden administration has released 2.1 million migrants into the U.S. Additionally, approximately 1.5 million illegal migrants have entered the U.S. after successfully evading the Border Patrol. Statistics show that border encounters are happening at a rate that is three times higher under Biden than under the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, Fox News reported on Sunday that the Biden administration is currently auctioning off border wall materials that have been sitting unused since Biden ordered a halt to the construction of the wall on his first day in office. Steel beams that were intended to support 30-foot-tall panels are being listed for sale on GovPlanet, a military surplus online auction site. So far, about $154 million worth of border wall materials have been offloaded for sale by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Former President Trump had originally spent about $15 billion to construct 450 miles of barriers along the southern border. About 250 miles of the wall were under construction at the time that he left office.

As a result of Biden halting construction of the border wall, states like Arizona have resorted to using old shipping containers to patch up gaps in the wall. A later investigation found that the Department of Defense was spending $47 million per year to store unused building materials in southwestern states along the border.

Ken Blackwell, former mayor of Cincinnati and undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was candid in his assessment of the Biden administration’s border policies.

“The Biden administration are champion supporters of a number of things, [among which is] this false notion that you can have a nation without borders,” he told The Washington Stand. “We’ve seen not only an increase in border crossings, we’ve seen an increase in ‘gotaways,’ we’ve seen a marked increase … in the number of military age Chinese [nationals] coming into the country. Our chief adversaries are laughing at this clown car called the Biden administration.”

Blackwell continued, “What we see is an administration that is keen on expanding the welfare state, denigrating citizenship, and creating [an increase in] not only the numbers of folks who are wards of the state, but folks who are hooked on the largesse of the federal government. [W]hat [the Biden administration is] doing is expanding the voter pool for supporting the expansion of the welfare state, which is controlled by the elite of the administrative state.”

Blackwell, who currently serves as senior fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance at Family Research Council, called for an accounting of the actions of top Biden administration officials.

“The solution to the border crisis has to be that we begin to hold some folks responsible,” he underscored. “I would start with impeachment proceedings for Homeland Security Secretary [Mayorkas]. Because if you turn a blind eye or award bad behavior, all you’re going to get is more bad behavior. Right now, there are key players within the Biden administration, whether it’s the head of Homeland Security or the Attorney General — they think they are immune to punitive action.”
AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

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