The destructive legacy of Trump’s border wall
3 years, 2 months ago

The destructive legacy of Trump’s border wall

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. But like dozens of other places along the 2,000-mile US-Mexico border, under the Trump administration this remote area on Tijuana’s outskirts became a construction site for the then president’s “big, beautiful wall”. open image in gallery Officials speak in the gap at the US-Mexico border wall, on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico “When you see a wall in the middle of a mountain, it shows the ridiculousness of having these walls in the first place,” says Daniel Watman, from the Friends of Friendship Park Coalition, which celebrates the shared culture of those on either side of the border. The wall acted as a gateway drug for some of his administration’s most fervent acolytes, who helped introduce “zero tolerance” polices like intentionally separating families at the southern border. To make room for the Trump wall, construction workers “blew large holes” in an existing flood barrier system of levees that shield communities from storm surge along the Rio Grande river.

Wildlife Construction Independent Trump Border Wall Texas California Mexico Mountain Species Biden Miles Dhs Mexican Mr Trump Tijuana Homeland Security This Work Watman Otay Mountain Serraglio Mr Serraglio  miles  border  wall  mountain  destructive  construction  independent  walls  species  trumps  legacy  trump  wildlife

History of this topic

Trump's $20M-per-mile border wall can be bypassed with simple power tools: report
1 month, 1 week ago

Trump's $20M-per-mile border wall can be bypassed with simple power tools: report

Raw Story  

Immigrants seeking to cross the U.S.-Mexico border wall — which cost an estimated $20 million per mile to build — can wield simple power tools to saw their way through. During Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, his favorite slogan, "Build the wall," never came up. Instead of the wall, "Trump now wants a " bloody " mass deportation operation immediately removing …

What ever happened to the border wall Trump promised 8 years ago?
1 month, 1 week ago

What ever happened to the border wall Trump promised 8 years ago?

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Even as Biden spoke openly about how he didn’t think walls worked, he told …

At half a mile a week, Abbott’s border wall will take around 30 years and $20 billion
6 months ago

At half a mile a week, Abbott’s border wall will take around 30 years and $20 billion

Raw Story  

"At half a mile a week, Gov. The state’s ability to secure land rights has also dictated the wall’s location, though officials say they have focused on areas pinpointed by the Department of Public Safety as the “highest priority.” TFC officials have declined to share exactly where the wall is being built, citing security concerns, though Novak recently said construction …

Biden says he had to use Trump-era funds for the border wall. Asked if barriers work, he says ‘No’
1 year, 3 months ago

Biden says he had to use Trump-era funds for the border wall. Asked if barriers work, he says ‘No’

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday defended his administration’s decision to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow for construction of roughly 20 miles of additional border wall, saying he had no choice but to use the Trump-era funding for the barrier to stop illegal migration from Mexico. “I can’t stop that.” Still, the waiving of federal …

US border wall construction damaged Native burial site: Government report
1 year, 4 months ago

US border wall construction damaged Native burial site: Government report

Al Jazeera  

New report has found that efforts to expedite construction came at expense of sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous sites. Barrier construction along the United States’ southern border has damaged sensitive ecosystems, public lands and Indigenous cultural sites, a report by a nonpartisan government research agency has found. “The construction harmed some cultural and natural resources, for example, by blasting at a tribal …

Trump's Border Wall Caused 'Significant' Harm: Report
1 year, 4 months ago

Trump's Border Wall Caused 'Significant' Harm: Report

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING The construction of former President Donald Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border desecrated Indigenous cultural sites, hurt wildlife, destroyed vegetation, dried up key water resources, exacerbated the risk of flooding and triggered erosion that has left mountain slopes “unstable and at risk of collapse,” according to a new report. “This racist political stunt has been an ineffective …

Trump's Arizona gubernatorial candidate says she’ll build 'the wall' on land the state doesn’t even own
3 years, 1 month ago

Trump's Arizona gubernatorial candidate says she’ll build 'the wall' on land the state doesn’t even own

Raw Story  

Former television news host Kari Lake, a Republican gubernatorial candidate for Arizona, announced that she fully intends to build "the wall" along with Mexico border with Arizona steel. As the policy counsel at the American Immigration Council explained, Arizona doesn't have much land left where they can build the so-called wall. "Nearly all of the land which isn't federally owned …

Monsoon rain has torn apart Trump's border wall
3 years, 4 months ago

Monsoon rain has torn apart Trump's border wall

Raw Story  

Several gates of the U.S.-Mexico border wall were damaged by monsoon flooding in recent days along the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge in Southern Arizona. Photos show former President Donald Trump's border wall in deep disrepair after summer monsoon rains literally blew floodgates off their hinges. "While there have been previous sections of wall constructed in the Douglas area, during …

GOP embraces Trump during visit to Texas, border wall
3 years, 6 months ago

GOP embraces Trump during visit to Texas, border wall

Associated Press  

PHARR, Texas — Republican lawmakers traveled to Texas to cheer former President Donald Trump as he paid a visit to the southern border Wednesday and hammered the Biden administration for its immigration policies amid a decades-high spike in border crossings. After facing criticism for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Abbott has taken up Trump’s immigration mantle, vowing to continue …

Texas’ Republican Governor Tries to Keep “the Wall” Political Gravy Train Going
55 years ago

Texas’ Republican Governor Tries to Keep “the Wall” Political Gravy Train Going

Slate  

The “wall” as metaphor continues even after Donald Trump’s presidency. Realistic estimates of walling off Texas’ 1,200-mile border with Mexico could reach as high as $120 billion. Abbott says, yes of course, his state will chip in too to the tune of $250 million for the state-led border wall construction promising “hundreds of miles” of wall. “The Biden Administration won’t …

Texas governor: State, crowdsourcing will fund border wall
3 years, 6 months ago

Texas governor: State, crowdsourcing will fund border wall

Associated Press  

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Over a dozen Republican members of the Texas House and Senate joined Abbott for a livestreamed press conference announcing his intentions to hire a project manager to continue constructing some version of a wall announced last week, echoing former President Donald Trump’s unfinished campaign promise to fortify the southern U.S. border, of which 1,200 miles …

Biden to return diverted border wall money, spend down rest
3 years, 6 months ago

Biden to return diverted border wall money, spend down rest

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s signature border wall project would lose much of its funding as well as the fast-track status that enabled it to bypass environmental regulations under a Biden administration plan announced Friday. Biden plans to return more than $2 billion that the Trump administration diverted from the Pentagon to help pay for the wall and use …

Military funds for Trump border wall to be cancelled
3 years, 8 months ago

Military funds for Trump border wall to be cancelled

Al Jazeera  

The Biden administration said it will also fix flooding and soil erosion caused by unfinished sections of the wall. The Pentagon on Friday said it was cancelling the construction of parts of former President Donald Trump’s border wall with Mexico that were being built using military funds, with the unused money being returned to the military. “The Department of Defense …

Biden's DHS head wants to prosecute MORE illegal immigrants
3 years, 9 months ago

Biden's DHS head wants to prosecute MORE illegal immigrants

Daily Mail  

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wants to criminally prosecute more illegal immigrants and crack down on sanctuary cities Joe Biden's Homeland Security head is looking to crack down on illegal immigration by taking more legal action against border jumpers and targeting U.S. cities that act as a safe haven for them. The new hard-line stance comes as record numbers of …

Biden decree ends 'emergency' that Trump used to build wall
3 years, 10 months ago

Biden decree ends 'emergency' that Trump used to build wall

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President Joe Biden has officially ended the “national emergency” that …

Biden decree ends ‘emergency’ that Trump used to build wall
3 years, 10 months ago

Biden decree ends ‘emergency’ that Trump used to build wall

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has officially ended the “national emergency” that President Donald Trump declared in order to take money from the Pentagon to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. In his letter, the president said Trump’s declaration of a national emergency had been “unwarranted” and that he had directed that “no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted …

Biden halts border wall building after Trump’s final surge
3 years, 11 months ago

Biden halts border wall building after Trump’s final surge

Associated Press  

SAN DIEGO — In the days before Joe Biden became president, construction crews worked quickly to finish Donald Trump’s wall at an iconic cross-border park overlooking the Pacific Ocean, which then-first lady Pat Nixon inaugurated in 1971 as a symbol of international friendship. The Army Corps of Engineers, which has awarded wall contracts with Defense Department money, said Thursday that …

Immigration: Biden halts border wall and travel ban
3 years, 11 months ago

Immigration: Biden halts border wall and travel ban

CNN  

CNN — President Joe Biden kicked off his term by signing out a series of immigration executive actions, moving swiftly to undo many Trump administration policies and ending the national emergency that diverted millions of dollars to the border wall. “But we’re going to need legislation for a lot of these we’re going to do.” That includes the administration’s immigration …

Biden announces end to Trump’s border wall project
3 years, 11 months ago

Biden announces end to Trump’s border wall project

LA Times  

The U.S. side of Playas de Tijuana, where the border wall fades into the Pacific Ocean. President Biden is immediately ending the national emergency that President Trump declared on the border in February 2018 to divert billions of dollars from the Defense Department to wall construction. Despite Trump’s repeated promises that Mexico would pay for the wall, U.S. Customs and …

Trump put migrants in border limbo. So far Biden has left them there
3 years, 11 months ago

Trump put migrants in border limbo. So far Biden has left them there

LA Times  

A new section of border wall constructed in a remote expanse of desert outside Yuma, Ariz., under the Trump administration. “What people don’t realize is that Title 42 is everything — it’s a complete closure of the border,” said Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union, whose suit now faces the Biden administration. And yet when Biden comes in, …

What is happening with US President Donald Trump's border wall, and what does president-elect Joe Biden intend to do?
3 years, 11 months ago

What is happening with US President Donald Trump's border wall, and what does president-elect Joe Biden intend to do?

ABC  

A centrepiece of US President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policy was the construction of a "big, beautiful wall" on the US-Mexico border — and the promise that Mexico would pay for it. During his 2020 State of the Union address, Mr Trump said "substantially more than 500 miles" of the wall would be complete by early 2021. "Mexico is going …

Trump’s Legacy Through The Eyes Of Those His Presidency Hurt
3 years, 11 months ago

Trump’s Legacy Through The Eyes Of Those His Presidency Hurt

Huff Post  

One week into his term, President Donald Trump devastated tens of thousands of people with the stroke of a pen. Courtesy of Javier Garrido April 6, 2018 In 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the implementation of Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy. This week, Omar helped lead the charge to impeach the president a second time for inciting a mob to …

Trump heads to Texas border in final days to showcase wall
3 years, 11 months ago

Trump heads to Texas border in final days to showcase wall

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Trump's visit — no doubt a symbol of …

Trump’s rush to build US border wall fuels fear of lasting harms
3 years, 11 months ago

Trump’s rush to build US border wall fuels fear of lasting harms

Al Jazeera  

San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona, United States – Biologist Myles Traphagen flips through images captured by his wildlife cameras and shakes his head in disbelief: a javelina, a bird watcher, a couple of US Border Patrol agents – that’s it. “It’s unprecedented, to not have a couple mountain lions, bobcats, deer, turkey, tons of stuff, I would come out …

Alamo, Texas: Trump visits his border wall on the heels of deadly Capitol Hill riot
3 years, 11 months ago

Alamo, Texas: Trump visits his border wall on the heels of deadly Capitol Hill riot

CNN  

CNN — President Donald Trump bookended his administration’s focus on immigration with a trip to his signature border wall on the US-Mexico border, a visit on the heels of a deadly riot on Capitol Hill incited by the President as House Democrats prepare a second impeachment vote. During a brief speech near the wall, Trump listed off a series of …

Donald Trump to make triumphant visit to US-Mexico border wall
3 years, 11 months ago

Donald Trump to make triumphant visit to US-Mexico border wall

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} President …

Trump to visit U.S.-Mexico border to laud border wall
4 years ago

Trump to visit U.S.-Mexico border to laud border wall

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expected to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday to highlight his administration’s work on the border wall, the White House said Saturday. He will mark the completion of 400 miles of border wall and his administration’s efforts to reform what the White House described as the nation’s broken immigration system. Trump’s campaign for …

Donald Trump expected to travel to US-Mexico border to laud work on wall
4 years ago

Donald Trump expected to travel to US-Mexico border to laud work on wall

The Telegraph  

President Donald Trump is expected to travel to the US-Mexico border on Tuesday to highlight his administration's work on the border wall, the White House said Saturday. He will mark the completion of 400 miles of border wall and his administration's efforts to reform what the White House described as the nation's broken immigration system. Mr Trump's campaign for the …

Biden’s pledge to halt border wall construction would save US $2.6bn, Pentagon estimates
4 years ago

Biden’s pledge to halt border wall construction would save US $2.6bn, Pentagon estimates

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy If Joe Biden follows through on his claim that he …

Contractors Dynamite Mountains, Bulldoze Desert In Race To Build Trump's Border Wall
4 years ago

Contractors Dynamite Mountains, Bulldoze Desert In Race To Build Trump's Border Wall

NPR  

Contractors Dynamite Mountains, Bulldoze Desert In Race To Build Trump's Border Wall Enlarge this image toggle caption John Kurc John Kurc In the Coronado National Memorial — where conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado entered what is now Arizona — contractors are pulverizing the wilderness in a rush to put up as many miles of border wall as possible before the …

Death, debt, and degradation: Trump’s border wall after four years
4 years, 2 months ago

Death, debt, and degradation: Trump’s border wall after four years

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “For about the first year following Trump's inauguration, …

Trump officials tout progress on border wall before election
4 years, 2 months ago

Trump officials tout progress on border wall before election

Associated Press  

HOUSTON — Top Trump administration officials visited Texas five days before Election Day to announce they have nearly completed 400 miles of U.S.-Mexico border wall, trying to show progress on perhaps the president’s best-known campaign promise four years ago. Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser, told reporters Wednesday that “we have a president campaigning on having successfully built a border …

Donald Trump's border wall is 'desecrating' sacred Indigenous sites, tribal leaders say. Could the US election change this?
4 years, 2 months ago

Donald Trump's border wall is 'desecrating' sacred Indigenous sites, tribal leaders say. Could the US election change this?

ABC  

Depending on who you ask, the border that separates the US and Mexico is a symbol of defence or distress. She said Border Patrol agents had asked "inappropriate" questions of Indigenous people, including requests "to speak their language or sing or dance traditional songs" to verify their identity. US governments have been able to build border infrastructure easily along the …

Inside Steve Bannon’s Alleged Scheme To Fleece Trump Voters Who Wanted A Border Wall
4 years, 4 months ago

Inside Steve Bannon’s Alleged Scheme To Fleece Trump Voters Who Wanted A Border Wall

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Brian Kolfage had a problem. As part of a fundraising promotion, We Build the Wall offered free, autographed copies of Trump Jr.’s book, “Triggered,” to people donating at least $75. The next day, Kolfage posted a photo of himself with a small group of people including Trump Jr. and “Foreman Mike.” Kolfage shared the same image to …

About that border wall, Mr. Presidents ... who’s paying?
4 years, 6 months ago

About that border wall, Mr. Presidents ... who’s paying?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has made building some 450 miles of wall on the U.S.-Mexico border a defining issue of his presidency, and long vowed that Mexico would pay for it. So, naturally, with Trump hosting Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at the White House for the first time on Wednesday, it would seem the issue would be …

Trump wrongly diverted billions to build wall: Appeals court
4 years, 6 months ago

Trump wrongly diverted billions to build wall: Appeals court

Al Jazeera  

The $2.5bn diverted from military construction was done without Congressional approval and unlawful, the court said. A federal appeals court on Friday ruled against the administration of United States President Donald Trump in its transfer of $2.5bn from military construction projects to build sections of the US border wall with Mexico, ruling it illegally sidestepped Congress, which gets to decide …

Trump campaigns on border wall progress. There’s not much of it
4 years, 6 months ago

Trump campaigns on border wall progress. There’s not much of it

LA Times  

President Trump, whose plans to campaign on a booming economy were ruined by the coronavirus, traveled Tuesday to the southern edge of Arizona to highlight completion of “more than 200 miles of powerful border wall” with Mexico. Only about “three miles of new border wall system constructed in locations where no barriers previously existed,” according to Homeland Security’s June 19 …

Trump administration taking $3.8bn from military for border wall
4 years, 10 months ago

Trump administration taking $3.8bn from military for border wall

Al Jazeera  

The $3.8bn would come from National Guard and weapons programmes, setting the stage for possible clash with Democrats. The United States Defense Department sent Congress a request to shift nearly four billion dollars from the military budget to pay for a wall on the border with Mexico, a central promise of President Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House four …

DHS seeks Pentagon funds for 270 miles of border wall
4 years, 11 months ago

DHS seeks Pentagon funds for 270 miles of border wall

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security has asked the Pentagon to fund the construction of 270 miles of border wall this year as part of a counter-drug effort, defense officials said Thursday. Earlier this week, officials said the Trump administration was weighing whether to shift billions more in military funding to build the border wall. And House Appropriations Committee …

Trump administration reaches 100-mile mark for border wall
5 years ago

Trump administration reaches 100-mile mark for border wall

CNN  

Washington CNN — The Trump administration has built 100 miles of new wall along the US-Mexico border – the majority of which is replacing previous construction – acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf announced in Arizona on Friday, as the administration touts its record ahead of the presidential election. “One thing I want to emphasize is that every inch of …

Three years into Donald Trump's presidency, US govt ramps up efforts to seize private land in Texas to build border wall
5 years ago

Three years into Donald Trump's presidency, US govt ramps up efforts to seize private land in Texas to build border wall

Firstpost  

Donald Trump’s signature campaign promise has consistently faced political, legal, and environmental obstacles in Texas, which has the largest section of the US-Mexico border, most of it without fencing Houston: Three years into Donald Trump’s presidency, the US government is ramping up its efforts to seize private land in Texas to build a border wall. Trump’s signature campaign promise has …

Pentagon watchdog investigating $400M border wall contract
5 years ago

Pentagon watchdog investigating $400M border wall contract

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s internal watchdog is investigating a $400 million border wall contract awarded to a firm that used multiple appearances on Fox News to push for the job. The Pentagon’s inspector general sent a letter Thursday to House Homeland Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson telling him the contract awarded to North Dakota-based firm Fisher Sand and Gravel Co. …

Judge halts some military spending on border wall
5 years ago

Judge halts some military spending on border wall

Associated Press  

EL PASO, Texas — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from spending some Defense Department money to build a border wall with Mexico, the latest twist in a long-running legal battle over one of the president’s signature domestic issues and campaign priorities. The ruling by District Judge David Briones in El Paso, Texas, prevents the government from …

Trump border wall $400 million contract handed to company owned by Republican donor who promoted firm on Fox News
5 years, 1 month ago

Trump border wall $400 million contract handed to company owned by Republican donor who promoted firm on Fox News

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A …

Construction company building private wall for group with Trump ties wins government contract
5 years, 1 month ago

Construction company building private wall for group with Trump ties wins government contract

CNN  

CNN — A company touted by White House officials – and that’s already building sections of border wall for a private group with Trump administration ties – has been awarded $400 million by the government to design and build part of President Donald Trump’s border barrier in Yuma County, Arizona. The Pentagon on Monday announced that North Dakota company Fisher …

Border agents admit smugglers are cutting through Trump's wall with a common household power tool: report
5 years, 2 months ago

Border agents admit smugglers are cutting through Trump's wall with a common household power tool: report

Raw Story  

On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that smugglers have sliced holes in the new sections of Trump's border wall with a common and readily available power tool, large enough for people and drugs to pass through. "The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little …

Trump calls new border wall a ‘world-class security system’
5 years, 3 months ago

Trump calls new border wall a ‘world-class security system’

Associated Press  

SAN DIEGO — President Donald Trump signed his name on a newly constructed section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, calling it a “world-class security system” that will be virtually impenetrable. Mark Morgan, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, defended the project, dismissing critics who call it the “president’s vanity wall.” “I’m here to tell you that’s false,” he …

Donald Trump cites national emergency in new border wall plea
5 years, 3 months ago

Donald Trump cites national emergency in new border wall plea

India TV News  

US President Donald Trump has reiterated the need for a stretch of about more than 800 km of border wall with Mexico to tackle what he said was a serious national emergency. During a visit to a stretch of the border fence erected in Otay Mesa, southern California, Trump on Wednesday said the "tremendous national emergency" involving drugs and human …

Trump calls new border wall a ‘world-class security system’
5 years, 3 months ago

Trump calls new border wall a ‘world-class security system’

The Hindu  

U.S. President Donald Trump signed his name on Wednesday on a newly constructed section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, calling it a “world-class security system” that will be “virtually impenetrable”. “It was like a sheet metal and people would just knock it over like just routinely,” Mr. Trump said, standing with construction workers and top Customs, Army Corps of Engineers …

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