As the 2024 presidential election rounds the corner, President Joe Biden is suddenly taking action against the chaos at the border he created.
On Thursday, Biden suggested that building a border wall is out of his hands, adding that he can't stop one from being built.
"Money was appropriated for the border wall," Biden told reporters at the White House. "I tried to get them to reappropriate, to redirect that money, but they didn't. They wouldn't. And in the meantime, there's nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated."
When asked by a reporter if he thought physical barriers were an effective strategy to keep illegal migrants out of the U.S., the president said "No."
Just hours after the Biden Administration reversed course of the "immediate need" for a border wall, immigration officials announced that deportations to Venezuela would begin again.
As a record number of illegal aliens from Central America have stormed across the Southern border in recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security said the Venezuelan government agreed to accept the return of its citizens.
However, it is unclear when the flights will begin or how frequently deportations will be made. The exile of illegal migrants to Venezuela had been halted for several years due to strained diplomatic ties.
"Today's announcement makes clear that we are committed to strictly enforcing immigration laws and quickly removing individuals who do not avail themselves of these orderly processes and choose to cross our border unlawfully," a DHS spokesman said, despite calling former President Trump's border policies "inhumane" and a "waste of money."
During one of his first days in office, Biden ended several Trump-era policies, including issuing a 100-day moratorium on deportations.
In September, over 50,000 Venezuelan migrants illegally entered the U.S. through the southern border. A large influx of new arrivals has overwhelmed New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
The border crisis has been the talk of Washington, D.C., this week after Democrat-controlled "sanctuary cities" across the country are calling on the Biden Administration to take action.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) and New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) have pressured the president to prioritize a solution to stem the flow of illegal migrants overwhelming their resources.
Adams traveled to Mexico this week as part of his Latin America tour in hopes of discouraging illegal migrants from heading to the Big Apple, saying that "there is no more room in New York."
According to the Democratic mayor, more than 110,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in the city since spring 2022. Adams also said that the crisis will “destroy New York City" if not resolved soon.
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