A Republican member of the House wants the Biden administration to complete construction of the border wall, and he’s introduced legislation that would force the president to do so.
On Monday, Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin introduced what is called the WALL Act. If passed, $25 billion would be allocated to finish the construction of the border wall, which was started under the Trump administration.
In addition, it would offset the cost of the wall by eliminating tax credits and entitlement benefits that illegal immigrants currently have access to. It would also levy fines on those who enter the U.S. illegally.
The Department of Homeland Security would also be required to immediately resume the construction on the wall that was planned before President Joe Biden entered the White House in 2021.
Before he introduced the bill, Gallagher explained to The Daily Caller:
“President Biden has met the American people’s cry for a secure southern border with hallow actions and far-left policies that pander to his progressive base. This has exacerbated the crisis, threatened our national security, and hurt Wisconsin families.
“While regaining operational control of the border requires a number of tools — such as additional personnel and enhanced technology — a finished southern border wall is both fundamental and necessary to this effort.”
With the federal government doing nothing to protect the U.S. southern border with Mexico, some states have taken matters into their own hands.
For instance, Texas and Arizona have initiated action that would continue the construction of the parts of the wall located in their states that were left incomplete.
Illegal immigration has been a massive problem during basically the entire Biden administration. Yet, it got even worse when the president allowed Title 42 to expire last May. Migrants were inspired to come to the U.S. when that measure didn’t renew, as it was harder for the U.S. to deport them on an expedited basis.
That measure was put in place during the Trump administration as a way to stop the spread of COVID-19. It gave the Department of Homeland Security the power to expel migrants rapidly on the grounds that the U.S. was experiencing a public health emergency.
Without that measure in place, though, DHS lost a major tool in dissuading illegal immigrants from coming to the U.S.
During fiscal year 2021, Border Patrol agents recorded 2 million encounters will illegal immigrants at the border with Mexico alone — which marked a new record. In that same time period, $3.31 billion worth of counterfeit goods was also seized.
This included more than 97,000 pounds of cocaine, more than 190,000 pounds of methamphetamine and about 319,000 pounds of marijuana.
No work on the border wall has been completed since Biden signed an executive order not long after he entered office that halted all construction.
The bill that Gallagher introduced in the House this week is a companion measure to one that Republican Senator Katie Britt of Alabama has introduced in the Senate.
