Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas now says his agency has an “obligation” to continue constructing border wall along the United States-Mexico border even as President Joe Biden halted all construction last year via executive order.
During a hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) presented Mayorkas with photos of border wall materials rusting away in the desert along the southern border.
The materials, Hinson said, were supposed to be used to continue constructing border wall to deter illegal immigration. Those plans were halted, though, when Biden halted all construction via executive order in January 2021.
Border wall materials sit rusting and rotting in the desert as Biden halted construction. (Photo via Rep. Ashley Hinson’s Office)
In March of 2021, Breitbart News exclusively reported that Biden had been spending about $6 million every day in taxpayer money not to build the border wall. By July, Biden had spent $2 billion not to build the wall, with costs leveling out to about $3 million in taxpayer money wasted every day.
Despite the administration’s longtime insistence that border wall is too costly and ineffective, Mayorkas told Hinson that DHS has an “obligation” to continue building the barrier.
“We have an obligation to spend the money that Congress has appropriated for the wall,” Mayorkas said. “The way in which we are doing that is to achieve the safety and security of the American people and to do so in a responsible way.”
“We’re also spending money addressing infirmities of the wall that was built,” he continued. “We’re seeing corrosion and other failings. So it’s a very complex picture.”
The statement comes as the Biden administration has fought border wall construction at every turn over the last year. In July 2021, Hinson noted that DHS was spending taxpayer dollars allocated for construction on “environmental restoration.”
Likewise, in October 2021, Mayorkas announced that DHS would be canceling a number of border wall construction contracts, though he later vowed to close some gaps in the wall. Breitbart News recently revealed in exclusive footage the extent of the gaps in the wall. In San Diego, California, for example, large portions remain fully open.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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