President Joe Biden has halted construction of a border wall between America and Mexico in his first 24 hours in office.
The wall was Donald Trump’s flagship policy promise during his campaign for the 2016 presidential election.
At that time, it was to be a concrete structure spanning 2,000km, estimated to cost some $21bn, a bill he famously insisted Mexico would pay.
After the election, the length of new wall promised was shortened and sections of steel fence were to replace concrete.
A BBC analysis of a 6 October 2020 status report issued by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) suggested that just 15 miles (24km) of new primary border wall had been built where none existed before. Â
A further 350 miles (563km) of barrier, made up of replacement structures and some new secondary barrier, had also been constructed.
Some 378 more miles (678km) of new and replacement barrier was either under construction or in the pre-construction phase by 6 October, said the CBP.
In a press release, Biden stated that "building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution" and is in fact a "waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats".
Funding for the wall will be redirected, construction of the project has been paused, while funds and "contracting methods" are to be reviewed.
Image: The Mexico and US border in Tijuana (Evgeniefimenko/Dreamstime)
Further Reading:
