Biden cancels funding for Trump border wall
In a letter to Congress on Thursday, Biden wrote that the order was "unwarranted" and said that no further tax dollars will be spent on the wall
US President Joe Biden has rescinded the national emergency order used to fund Donald Trump's border wall.
In a letter to Congress on Thursday, Biden wrote that the order was "unwarranted" and said that no further tax dollars will be spent on the wall, reports the BBC.
Trump declared a state of emergency over the southern border in 2019, which allowed him to bypass Congress and use military funds for its construction.
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When Trump left office, about $25bn (£18bn) 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, 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 Thursday, 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 Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
But the project faced strong opposition in the Democratic-controlled House, and the Republican president announced he would use emergency powers to fund its construction.
An emergency declaration allows US presidents to circumvent the usual political process and to access military funding.
Various types of fencing totalling 654 miles (just over 1,000 km) were already in place before Trump became president in 2017.
During his 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.
