Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would fill four large gaps in the uncompleted border wall near Yuma, Arizona. Although Joe Biden had promised “not another foot” of wall would be built in his administration, DHS Secretary Mayorkas has authorized the construction–called the Yuma Morelos Dam Project–to close those gaps.
The area near Yuma has recently been the busiest migrant sector in the state of Arizona and is one of the most popular border-crossing points along the entire border, coming in behind only the Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley sectors in Texas. During just the first six months of 2022, border officials recorded more than 160,000 encounters of illegal migrants, nearly four times last year’s number.
Although numerous Republican officials had asked the administration for similar action, Thursday’s move came only after a request by Democrat Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. That request, in turn, came only after Sen. Kelly himself had “voted three separate times” to defund the wall’s construction. (But that was then. These days, Kelly is up for re-election.)
Mayorkas was careful to reassure the migrants of the world that this move does not signal any change of heart regarding their apparent God-given right to live in the United States. On the contrary, plugging the gaps comes only in response to a series of drownings and rescues of migrants attempting to cross the Colorado River near the dam. The goal of the project therefore is to protect migrants from the “risk of drownings and injuries from falls” and to usher them along to safer, though no less illegal, fords.
In other words, the message from the Biden White House is, Come ahead, just do it at some place that’s a little safer. We wouldn’t want you to get hurt sneaking into our country.
For more, see Fox News.