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U.S. NEWS Saturday 23 January 2021
Biden halts border wall building after Trump's final surge

By ELLIOT SPAGAT in 2018 with then-Attorney
SAN DIEGO (AP) — In the General Jeff Sessions to an-
days before Joe Biden be- nounce a "zero tolerance"
came president, construc- policy that caused thou-
tion crews worked quickly sands of children to be sep-
to finish Donald Trump's arated from their parents at
wall at an iconic cross-bor- the border.
der park overlooking the An old bullfighting ring and
Pacific Ocean, which then- ocean-view restaurants sur-
first lady Pat Nixon inaugu- round the Mexican side;
rated in 1971 as a symbol of wetland scrub stretches
international friendship. into the United States.
Biden on Wednesday or- Years ago, people passed
dered a "pause" on all wall baked goods, kissed and
construction within a week, shook hands through a
one of 17 executive orders chain-link fence. Watman
issued on his first day in of- remembers passing tools
fice, including six dealing back and forth in 2007 to
with immigration. plant a cross-border gar-
The order leaves billions of den that still stands.
dollars of work unfinished Since 2012, after construc-
— but still under contract tion of a double wall at
— after Trump worked fe- the park, the Border Patrol
verishly last year to build has opened a gate many
more than 450 miles (720 weekends for up to 10 peo-
kilometers), a goal he said ple at a time to exchange
he achieved eight days words with those in Mexico.
before leaving office. SLSCO Ltd. of Galveston,
As of Jan. 15, the govern- Texas, won contracts to
ment spent $6.1 billion of build double walls blanket-
the $10.8 billion in work it A man looks through the first wall at Friendship Park, near where the border separating Tijuana, ing 14 miles (22 kilometers)
signed contracts to have Mexico, and San Diego meets the Pacific Ocean Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico. in San Diego. Company
done, according to a Sen- Associated Press spokeswoman Liz Rogers
ate Democratic aide with said work at Friendship Park
knowledge of the contracts $863 million, but it was not fence with imposing, tightly people over or through it. is separate and done by
who spoke on condition of awarded. spaced poles topped with Portions can be sawed with another company.
anonymity because details The Army Corps of Engi- flat steel plates rising 30 feet power tools sold at home The Supreme Court is
have not been made pub- neers, which has awarded (9 meters), said Dan Wat- improvement stores. scheduled to hear ar-
lic. The full amount under wall contracts with Defense man of Friends of Friend- Despite Trump's bravado, guments next month on
contract would have ex- Department money, said ship Park, a group that pro- Border Patrol officials have whether the government'
tended Trump's wall to 664 Thursday that it told crews motes public access to the said the wall was never illegally diverted billions of
miles (1,069 kilometers). not to install any additional cross-border park overlook- meant to stop everyone dollars from the Defense
Biden, seeking to fulfill a barriers and to limit activity ing the Pacific Ocean. but rather to slow their ad- Department to build the
pledge not to build "an- over the next few days to Contractors began last vance. wall after Congress denied
other foot," gave his ad- what is "necessary to safely week, said Watman, who Jose Edgar Zuleta, whose money that Trump sought,
ministration two months prepare each site for a sus- was informed of the proj- business selling religious triggering a 35-day govern-
to determine how much it pension of work." ect in a December confer- jewelry in the Mexican city ment shutdown in 2017.
would cost to cancel con- John Kurc, an activist who ence call with Border Patrol of Puebla dried up during It is unclear if Biden will
tracts and whether money posts videos of dynamite agents but got no expla- the coronavirus pandemic, adopt Trump's position be-
could be spent elsewhere. blasts by wall construction nation for it. The agency cleared two walls in Friend- fore the Supreme Court.
The Senate aide said fees crews, said he saw one referred questions to the ship Park in October with a The government's brief is
would be negotiated with dynamite charge being White House, which had no special ladder. He moved due Feb. 11.
contractors and the ad- set Wednesday afternoon immediate comment.q through brush in a heav- Mexican President Andrés
ministration would seek to in Guadalupe Canyon in Trump said the border wall ily patrolled area for about Manuel López Obrador
spend whatever's left on easternmost Arizona, even would be "virtually impen- half an hour before getting welcomed Biden's decision
related uses on the border, as the inauguration was etrable" and paid for by caught. His 21-year-old son, to stop wall construction
such as roads, lights, sen- playing out in Washington. Mexico, which never hap- who went ahead of him, but, in defense of Trump,
sors and other technology. Heavy machines have pened. While the wall is got picked up hours later. noted that U.S. presidents
Publicly, the Trump ad- been crawling over road- much more formidable The cross-border park has going back to 1990s built
ministration said it secured ways gouged into rocky than the barriers it re- hosted yoga classes, con- border barriers. He dis-
$15 billion for the wall. The mountainsides, tapping placed, it isn't uncommon certs and countless news played a chart to prove his
Senate aide said it was open holes for posts on U.S. for smugglers to guide conferences, including one point.q
actually $16.45 billion as of Bureau of Land Manage-
Wednesday, $5.8 billion of ment property. LIKE US ON
which was appropriated Advocates in Texas' Rio
by Congress and the rest Grande Valley, the busiest
diverted from the Defense area for illegal crossings,
and Treasury departments. and near Nogales, Arizo-
The Trump administration na, saw idle construction
notified the Senate aide on equipment Thursday.
Jan. 14 that it was moving But in San Diego, crews Facebook.com/arubatoday/
ahead with a contract for were out replacing a steel