Biden administration seizing land for Trump’s border wall: Report

The administration of US President Joe Biden is seizing land near the US-Mexico border to be used to continue building former President Donald Trump’s controversial border wall, according to a new report.

An investigation by Politico on Friday that the US government has captured six acres of land in Hidalgo County, Texas.

The seized property is reportedly part of a court case brought during the Trump administration to build the controversial wall which the former Republican president was building despite strong opposition from human rights groups.

The Cavazos family, who owns the property, expressed their frustration about the Biden administration, which promised to end Trump’s policies.

“I’m ... very, very disappointed in Joe Biden. I thought he was a man of his word but apparently he’s not keeping his word,” Reynaldo Anzaldua Cavazos, a member of the family, told Politico. “He said not one more foot of wall and no land forfeitures. We took him at his word and we want him to keep his word.”

Biden has condemned Trump's hardline immigration policies, including his plan of construction of the border wall between the US and Mexico.

However, a review of government resources going into the project instated by Biden at the start of his presidency has been delayed. The Department of Justice said it would not end court.

According documents and interviews conducted by Politico, the Biden administration did not withdraw or dismiss the case in Hidalgo County.

“DOJ sought continuances in pending cases, including in this case, in which the government had previously filed motions for possession of land on the southwest border in light of President Biden’s proclamation terminating the national emergency at the southern border of the United States and directing ‘a careful review of all resources appropriated or redirected to construct a southern border wall,’” a DOJ official told the outlet.

President Biden stopped some funds related to constructing the wall, and later overturned the emergency order that Trump used to justify constructing the wall.

However, Biden now is considering the resumption of the construction of the project despite the fact that it could prove extremely difficult as much of the border terrain is rugged, hilly terrain while other areas are controlled by private land owners.

Critics have denounced the Biden administration for unravelling strict border protections put in place by Trump, including measures that kept migrants in Mexico while they waited for their cases to be processed.

US Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar has condemned the Biden administration for the continued construction of Trump’s “xenophobic and racist” wall.

“It’s shameful and unacceptable for @POTUS to continue the construction of Trump’s xenophobic and racist wall,” Omar said recently on Twitter, after it was reported on Wednesday that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees that the Biden administration was considering finishing certain “gaps” in construction.

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