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Image source: White House

President Joe Biden has decided to rescind the national emergency order used to fund Donald Trump’s border wall.

In a letter to Congress on February 11, President Biden wrote that the order was “unwarranted” and said that no further tax dollars will be spent on the wall.

The former president declared a state of emergency over the southern border in 2019, which allowed him to bypass Congress and use military funds for its construction.

When Donald Trump left office, about $25 billion had been spent on the project.

The announcement from President Biden is the latest in a series of executive orders that have rolled back key parts of the former president’s agenda.

Last week, Joe Biden signed orders seeking to reunite migrant families split up by Trump-era policies, and ordered a probe of his predecessor’s immigration agenda.

In a letter on February 11, President Biden wrote that he would also seek a review of “all resources appropriated or redirected” to the construction of the wall.

Building a border wall was a signature pledge of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

However, the project faced strong opposition in the Democratic-controlled House, and the Republican president announced he would use emergency powers to fund its construction.

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An emergency declaration allows US presidents to circumvent the usual political process and to access military funding.

Various types of fencing totaling 654 miles were already in place before Donald Trump became president in 2017.

During his time in office, 80 miles of new barriers were built where there were none before, and almost 400 miles replaced existing parts of the structure.

Former Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller took to Twitter to comment on the decision, writing “Biden loves illegal immigration”.

However, some parts of the Trump administration’s immigration policy will be left in place.

At a press conference on February 10, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki appeared to confirm the new administration would keep a Trump-era policy that allowed border officials to summarily expel undocumented immigrants amid the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: “Due to the pandemic and the fact that we have not had the time, as an administration, to put in place a humane, comprehensive process for processing individuals who are coming to the border.

“Now is not the time to come, and the vast majority of people will be turned away.”

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Republicans and Democrats have reached an agreement in principle over border security to fund the government and avoid another partial shutdown.

The deal was struck in a closed-door meeting in Washington on February 11 after several hours of talks.

However, the agreement contains only a fraction of the money President Donald Trump wants for his promised border wall and does not mention a concrete barrier.

The deal still needs to be approved by Congress and signed by the president.

Speaking on February 12, President Trump said of the deal: “I can’t say I’m happy, I can’t say I’m thrilled.”

The president told reporters he would have a meeting about the agreement later today.

The Democrats – who now control the House of Representatives – have refused to approve the $5.7 billion for President Trump’s wall on the border with Mexico, one of his key campaign pledges.

Lawmakers expressed optimism that a bill would be approved by February 15 when funding runs out for some federal agencies.

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The longest shutdown in US history lasted 35 days and cost the country’s economy an estimated $11 billion.

Details have yet to be released but aides familiar with the negotiations say it includes $1.375 billion in funding for 55 miles of new fencing at the border, a small part of the more than 2,000 miles promised by President Trump.

The wall would be built in the Rio Grande Valley, in Texas, using existing designs, such as metal slats, instead of the concrete wall that Donald Trump had demanded.

According to recent reports, there was also an agreement to reduce the number of beds in detention centers to 40,250 from the current 49,057.

The talks had reached an impasse earlier with Republicans strongly rejecting Democrats’ demands for a limit to the number of undocumented migrants already in the US who could be detained by immigration authorities.

Republican Senator Richard Shelby said on February 11: “We got an agreement on all of it.

“Our staffs are going to be working feverishly to put all the particulars together. We believe that if this becomes law, it’ll keep open the government.”

However, by yesterday, some of President Trump’s conservative allies had already denounced the deal, with Fox News commentator Sean Hannity calling it a “garbage compromise”.

House Freedom Caucus leader Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina said the agreement failed “to address the critical priorities outlined by Border Patrol Chiefs”.

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