More wall miles and deportation flights, Biden's new attempt to stop immigration

Biden's administration raised eyebrows on October 2 by announcing it would build around 20 miles of border wall in southern Texas.

The new section brokes Biden's campaign promise that his administration would not allow for the construction of "another foot" of border wall.

The wall also sparked direct contradictions in Biden's speech, who told the press that the plan would not work on the same day it was announced.

The President claims that the new wall section aims at complying with the law, as Congress appropriated the funds for its construction in 2019, during Trump's administration.

On the other hand, the former President claimed victory on a Twitter (now known as X) post. Donald Trump said that Biden should apologize for taking so long.

Still, President Biden argues that the authorization to build the new wall section came from the need to spend those funds that Congress refused to rescind.

Biden and his Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the media that the administration's policy has not changed and that a wall will not solve migration problems.

However, in the filing posted in the US Federal Registry, Mayorkas said, "there is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers" to prevent "illegal entries."

The statement was an assertion as to why the Federal Government should waive laws and regulations, particularly environmental ones, to expedite the wall.

That is why the primary detractors of the new wall section are environmental and migration advocacy groups expressing their disappointment with the current administration.

A few days after the wall controversy, the Biden administration announced it would also resume deportation flights for Venezuelan migrants.

The policy is another contradiction to Biden's previous remarks. A few days earlier, the administration said that Venezuelans could not return to their country safely as it increased the protected status for those who arrived before July 31.

Venezuelans have become the face of the grim migration crisis at the US border. They were the most represented nationality in September border encounters, up 63% from August.

Immigration will likely become one of the critical issues of the upcoming presidential race. Border patrol had 5.6 million encounters during the last two fiscal years.

After Title 42 expired in May, the Biden administration issued new and more rigid asylum guidelines to prevent migrants from crossing the border.

The policy included more administrative options for asylum seekers, such as a smartphone app to request appointments and present documents in advance and a parole system for Venezuelan, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Cuban citizens.

Still, the new alternatives for asylum seekers are complex for most migrants. The high demand makes finding an appointment in the app almost impossible, and parole applications can take a long time.

The conditions became narrower for those arriving at the border. Asylum seekers had to ask for protection in a third country first, and those who crossed outside of a control post could face direct deportation.