After years of criticism levied at former President Trump's border wall proposals, the Biden administration has begun work on a new border wall in south Texas to stem a surge in illegal migration.
On Wednesday, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas cited an "acute and immediate need" to waive 26 federal laws, including the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act, to begin new border wall constructions in the Starr County area of the Rio Grande Valley Sector (RGV).
The administration had stopped new border wall construction in early 2021 and claimed wall assembly under the Trump administration was "just one example of the prior administration's misplaced priorities and failure to manage migration in a safe, orderly and humane way."
Rhetoric condemning the erection of border walls along the U.S.-Mexico border has been a focal point of the current administration, beginning in 2019 before Joe Biden's official campaign announcement for the 2020 election.
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During an interview with CNN, Biden was confronted with a claim made by Trump, who said former presidents had told him they "wished" they had built a wall.
"I don't know a single one," Biden said. "I can't think of a single one who said that."
The former vice president then said the U.S. needs border security, but building a border wall is not the "border security we need."
In an August 2020 interview with journalists from the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Biden said he would not tear down the existing border barriers under Trump but committed to ceasing further construction.
"There will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration," Biden told NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
He noted that his border protection policy would instead be based on ensuring his administration uses its "high-tech capacity" to deal with issues at ports of entry.
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After announcing her run for president in 2019, future Vice President Kamala Harris referred to Trump's proposed border wall as a "medieval vanity project."
She would use the same language the following week during a CNN Town Hall.
"Let me be very clear: I'm not going to vote for a wall under any circumstances and I do support border security," Harris said.
The White House did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The urgent need for border wall construction comes after various members of Biden's administration have repeatedly claimed the border is secure.
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During an Aspen Security Forum in July 2022, Mayorkas claimed the southern border is "secure" as Border Patrol agents announced they were facing historic migrant numbers,
"Look, the border is secure," he said. "We are working to make the border more secure. That has been a historic challenge."
Mayorkas would go on to reaffirm his stance on the state of border security in Congress and numerous television interviews.
He told Fox News in September 2021 that the administration does not "agree" with the building of a wall.
While sitting down for an interview with "60 Minutes" in April, Mayorkas said this regarding the border: "Well, the president, as you know very well, has said we are not going to construct more wall that costs billions and billions of dollars that is immovable."
That same month, Mayorkas said he stood by the decision of the administration to cease construction of the wall.
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Similar comments were made by "border czar" Harris, who said she was focused on addressing the root causes of migration into the U.S.
During an interview last year on "Meet the Press," Harris was asked by NBC News anchor Chuck Todd whether the border is secure. The vice president responded that the immigration system was "broken" under the Trump administration.
"I think that there is no question that we have to do what the president and I asked Congress to do, the first request we made: pass a bill to create a pathway to citizenship," Harris said. "The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, in particular, over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed."
Many of the sharp stances against border wall construction have come from the White House podium.
On two separate occasions in April 2022, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the government has spent years investing in a "faulty" border wall that was never going to be "effective."
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Current White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has long criticized forming a border wall as a legitimate deterrent for illegal migration.
Speaking with MSNBC's Joy Reid in early 2019 while a political analyst at the left-wing network, Jean-Pierre claimed Trump was "holding the nation hostage" with his "bigoted, racist border wall."
She then suggested that Democrats could not give in to Trump's "failed policy."
Jean-Pierre would go on to tell the White House press corps that an "ineffective wall" would waste taxpayer dollars in a May press conference. She also claimed the wall could not withstand heavy winds, let alone "sophisticated criminal networks."
She had previously made comments on the border wall in 2022 and 2021. While filling in for Psaki in October 2021, Jean-Pierre cited experts who said a border wall is a "policy that doesn't work."
The following July, Jean-Pierre said the administration would not be "finishing the wall" and instead was working to clean up the "mess" left by former leadership.
"We are not finishing the wall," she said two more times throughout the conference.
On Thursday, Jean-Pierre faced numerous questions on the decision to restart the process of border wall construction. She said Biden has been consistent in his belief that border walls do not work, and they were required by law to comply with the directive to build barriers. Additionally, she said that Congress has "refused" Biden’s call to reappropriate the funds for the border wall.
On his first day in office, Biden issued a Proclamation terminating the redirection of funds for border wall construction, pausing all wall construction and requiring Mayorkas and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to develop plans for funds concerning the Southern border wall.
A CBP spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital the waiver is for barrier projects announced in June, and it will cover approximately 17 miles in Starr County. The spokesperson said the project is consistent with DHS' plan to fulfill President Biden's Jan. 20, 2021, proclamation that "ended the diversion of funds for border wall from military projects or other sources while calling for the expenditure of any funds Congress appropriated for barrier construction consistent with their appropriated purpose."
"CBP remains committed to protecting the nation's cultural and natural resources and will implement sound environmental practices as part of the project covered by this waiver," the spokesperson said.
The Biden administration also repeatedly called on Congress to cancel funds appropriated for "border barrier projects" and reallocate them towards "modern, effective border management measures."
According to a June 2021 White House fact sheet on the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security's plans for border wall funds, the Biden administration alleged that Trump and his cabinet diverted critical resources and took attention away from drug smuggling and human trafficking.
"The Biden Administration inherited a broken immigration system – one that wasted billions of taxpayer dollars and neither kept the American people safe nor adhered to our values," the fact sheet said. "Wall construction along the Southern border in recent years is just one example of the prior Administration's misplaced priorities and failure to manage migration in a safe, orderly, and humane way."
Fox News' Jessica Chasmar and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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