UPDATE: Mayorkas Wants To ‘Clarify’ His ‘Misunderstood’ Position On Building A Wall

An observer could get whiplash trying to keep up with all the backpedaling in this administration.

First there was a promise to NOT build a single foot more of border wall during Biden’s term.

Next there was an announcement that Mayorkas was invoking powers in his office to waive some 26 regulations that would normally impede production of security features like a border wall… as we reported yesterday: Mayorkas Cries Uncle — Orders ‘Immediate Need’ To Build A Wall, Waive Regulations

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The reason? To build a physical obstruction and stem the flow of people coming across the border. Needless to say, there was a lot of buzz on both sides of the aisle about that announcement.

There were competing claims about whether this was a new response to the border surge or something that has been in the works ‘since June’. (Evidence seems to point us to it being recent.)

Biden was asked point-blank if he has changed his mind about border walls. He has not.

And finally, we have a ‘clarification’ message from Mayorkas claiming his announcement (PDF here) has been misunderstood and misreported.

The dispute might be centered on a disconnect in the meaning of ‘barriers and roads’… especially the ‘barriers’ part.

There’s no way that the guy whose agency was WELDING roughly gates in Trump’s completed wall into the OPEN position (and was using wire cutters to remove concertina wire laid down by State agents defending Texas) has any serious commitment to permanent solutions that would curtail illegal immigration in a meaningful way.

Note the word ‘fencing’ that appears in the text of his own statement.

He will be spending unused TRUMP money from 2019 for ‘barriers and roads’, not new dollars from the current budget.

You can watch his statement and read the document yourself and decide what you make of it.

Here’s one possible takeaway:

A cynic might suggest he’s trying to burn through the bank account (line item) and waste it on ineffective or temporary barriers before a GOP budget FORCES Biden’s had to spend it on what it was intended for in the first place.

It’s like watching an IRL performance of the 80s flick, Brewsters Millions, where Richard Pryor’s character had to spend spend $30 Million dollars in 30 days while having nothing to show for it, as a pre-condition of receiving his $300 Million inheritance.