The border wall was a key legacy of Donald Trump. Joe Biden, the new President of the United States, signed a proclamation to end work on its construction. This signals a change in the perspective of the new administration regarding its priorities. The wall was an election promise of Trump in 2016. He said Mexico would pay for it but that did not happen and he diverted the money of taxpayers to fund the costly project. There were several lawsuits and pushback from environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers. He ignored these and in January, he made one final trip to see the Mexico border wall.

However, the curtains have finally come down as President Joe Biden signed an executive order to halt construction work on the wall. His proclamation reads - "It shall be the policy of my Administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall."

The Army Corps of Engineers oversees the border projects. A spokesperson for the agency explained that there would be full implementation of the directives as per the executive order. Contractors have been informed accordingly. Further work would be restricted to activities related to preparing each site for a suspension of work.

Ax falls on the Mexico border wall

The Trump administration completed 455 miles of the wall.

The majority of it was the replacement of dilapidated barriers by newly enhanced ones. There was already fencing in some portions and new walls came up where barriers did not exist. They added up to 49 miles. US Customs and Border Protection confirms this. The intention of the border wall was to create an impregnable barrier against smugglers but they had cut through some portions to carry on their activities.

The executive order suspends work on the border wall. The contractors would have to maintain a record of additional expenses incurred because of the delay. That would help them claim reimbursement from the government. These would include cleanup, demobilization, and restoration of land etcetera.

The executive order on the border wall

There have been numerous lawsuits on the subject. In December, a rep of the Democratic Party wrote to Biden and other lawmakers requesting for actions associated with various aspects of the wall. He was Henry Cuellar of Texas and he expressed confidence in the proclamation released by President Joe Biden. He told a section of the media – “The President definitely has met my expectations and I'm very, very happy about that." The border wall had destroyed Native American burial sites and wildlife habitats. It was a threat to the free movement of wildlife and an ecological disaster.

Biden delivers on a border wall promise

According to Washington Post, President Biden kept his campaign promise and halted the signature infrastructure project of the Trump administration.

The Mexico border wall was one of the costliest federal infrastructure projects in the history of the United States. Donald Trump invoked a national emergency to divert funds in billions from Defense Department accounts. The finalized design evolved after the evaluation of the border wall prototypes. Much of the unfinished work is in South Texas because of problems associated with acquiring the land. Private parties own a major portion of it. Environmental activists, landowners, and officials in border communities have welcomed the decision to stop the work.
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