New Mexico delegation calls for comprehensive immigration reform

EL PASO, TEXAS – President Joe Biden is walking back on one of his campaign promises on immigration after he agreed to construct more of the border wall.

Construction for the border wall was announced in June but these funds were already appropriated for the wall. Biden said his hands were tied Thursday afternoon when asked about greenlighting funding to expand the wall.

Cameras at the southern border caught a surge of migrants coming into El Paso. This is just the latest in the recent uptick of migrants crossing the border into the United States.

According to Border Patrol officials, they apprehended more than 200,00 migrants last month for crossing the border unlawfully.

This surge has President Biden changing his course when it comes to building more of the border wall.

“The border wall money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate and redirect that money, I didn’t, they wouldn’t, and in the meantime, there is nothing under the law other than they have to use that money for what it was appropriated for…I can’t stop that,” Biden said.

He was also asked if he thinks a border wall works to which he responded, “No.”

KOB 4 reached out to the New Mexico delegation about the situation unfolding in Texas.

In a statement, Representative Gabe Vasquez said:

“What’s happening in El Paso makes it clear that we must support resources at our border. Keeping New Mexico communities safe is a top priority for me and I support efforts that provide resources to our border, and why I’m working on a bill to go after the criminals – the cartels, coyotes, Narcos and human traffickers fueling this crisis.”

Senator Martin Heinrich echoed the call to fix the broken immigration system. In a statement, the senator said:

“We need to fix our nation’s broken immigration system, improve border security, and address the root causes of migration. Last year, I passed a bipartisan law to make it a federal crime to traffic firearms out of the United States — firearms that were fueling violence in Mexico and the Northern Triangle and directly contributing to a root cause of the migration we are seeing. I’ve also secured major funding for smarter border security technology and our border communities. There is more work to do, and I hope Republicans will join Democrats in getting it done.”

The city of El Paso’s Migrant dashboard shows more than 800 migrants are being released from federal immigration custody daily. They also had 12 charter buses take over 500 migrants out of El Paso in the past day.

Those buses were headed to Denver, Chicago, and New York City.