the Biden administration It said Friday it would stop selling materials slated to be used to build a border wall before the incoming Trump administration, which has promised to reinstate tougher efforts to combat illegal immigration.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the Biden administration confirmed to the court that it would approve a court order prohibiting it from getting rid of any more border wall materials within the next 30 days, allowing President-elect Trump to use those materials.
The Biden administration has been auctioning off portions of the border wall since at least 2023, with portions listed for sale on auction markets, after most of them abruptly closed. Border wall Construction in 2021.
GOP senator moves to block feds from getting rid of border wall materials amid auction backlash
Piles of unused border fencing stand at a border wall construction area on Johnson Ranch near Columbus, New Mexico, on Monday, April 12, 2021. (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
President-elect Donald Then Trump urged Biden administration to stop.
“We successfully prevented the Biden administration from eliminating any more border wall materials before President Trump takes office,” Paxton said.
“This comes after our major victory in forcing Biden to build the wall, and we will hold his administration accountable for illegally subverting our nation’s border security until their last day in office, especially when their actions were clearly motivated by a desire to thwart President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda,” he added.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a press conference in Dallas on June 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
In a press release, Paxton’s office said that if the Biden administration disposes of border wall materials purchased with funds subject to this injunction in violation of the court order, it would constitute unethical and punishable conduct and the officials could be held in contempt of court.
Texas said It intends to do everything it can to help the incoming administration build the wall on the southern border when Trump takes office.
The Biden administration abruptly ended border wall construction in January 2021 after building 450 miles in the first Trump administration. While border hawks say the wall is a crucial tool to stop illegal immigration, some Democrats have said the wall project is xenophobic and ineffective.
House Republicans investigate Biden administration’s sale of parts of border wall: ‘Waste and abuse’
President Donald Trump tours a portion of the border wall, Tuesday, June 23, 2020, in San Luis, Arizona (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Public auction of the border wall parts began in 2023 with parts listed for sale on GovPlanet.com, an online auction marketplace. The Defense Department’s Logistics Agency told the media that the excess material had been turned in for disposal by the Army Corps of Engineers and was now for sale.
These auctions have continued, with Arizona officials telling Fox News Digital that the auctions have been held weekly for some time. The practice drew attention last week when the Daily Wire published a video showing unused wall sections being transported on flatbed trucks in Arizona, despite the possibility that the materials could be used in the incoming Trump administration.
Trump has previously described Biden’s efforts as a sellout Unused boundary wall materials At a reduced price, “almost a criminal act.”
Trump said the auctions would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to buy back the large steel and concrete barriers. He called on President Biden to “please stop selling the wall” and suggested that his team get a restraining order to stop the sales.
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“What they’re doing is actually a business, it’s almost a criminal business,” he added. “They know we’re going to use it, and if we don’t have it, we’re going to have to rebuild it, and it’s going to cost twice as much as it did years ago, and that’s hundreds of millions of dollars because ‘we’re talking about lots and lots of walls.’
Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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