Biden okays new border wall as crossings rise thru Mexico border

NEW YORK, Oct 05 (BBC): US President Joe Biden's administration is to build a section of border wall in southern Texas in an effort to stop rising levels of immigration.
Around 20 miles (32km) will be built in Starr County along its border with Mexico, where officials report high numbers of crossings. Building a border wall was a signature policy of President Donald Trump and fiercely opposed by Democrats.
In 2020, Mr Biden promised he would not build another foot of wall if elected. But the rising number of illegal border crossings has made the issue a vulnerable one for the president. More than 245,000 crossings have been made this year, government data shows, and September is expected to be a record month.
"There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries," Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in an announcement.
Dozens of federal laws have been waived in order to approve construction of the wall, including the Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. The move has angered environmentalists, who say the structures will cut through the habitats of endangered plants and animals.
"It's disheartening to see President Biden stoop to this level, casting aside our nation's bedrock environmental laws to build ineffective wildlife-killing border walls," said Laiken Jordahl, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.