A construction site of the U.S.-Mexico border wall which former President Donald Trump had touted as a major accomplishment days before leaving office was seen abandoned on Friday (January 22) during a visit by Reuters.
The sites in Sunland Park, New Mexico, appeared deserted after U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order halting construction of the border wall.
Biden has ordered an immediate pause to construction of the border wall and end an emergency declaration by Trump while he was president that helped authorize funding for it.
Trump visited the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this month just a week before he left office to tout what he viewed as one of his biggest accomplishments.
The 400 miles (644 km) partially completed wall represents arguably the most concrete legacy of Trump’s four-year administration and his overhaul of the U.S. immigration system, including a crackdown on migrants crossing the southern border.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters last week he believes Biden will allow “zero” additional miles of wall to be constructed.
He and Biden on Friday held their first phone call since the American assumed the presidency last week.
The White House said on Saturday (January 23) the two men reviewed bilateral cooperation on a range of issues during the call, particularly regional migration. It said Biden outlined his plan to, among other things, reduce migration by addressing its “root causes” and “reversing the previous administration’s draconian immigration policies”.
(Production: Paul Ratje, Mana Rabiee)
Images show abandoned U.S. border wall along New Mexico as Biden halts further construction