Biden admin ordered to halt selling off border wall materials

The Biden administration announced on Friday that it would stop selling materials intended to build a border wall ahead of the incoming Trump administration, which has promised to restore tougher efforts to fight illegal immigration.

The Biden administration has confirmed in court that it will agree to a court order preventing it from disposing of further border wall material for the next 30 days, allowing President-elect Trump to use the materials, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.

The Biden administration has been bidding for parts of the border wall since at least 2023, with parts listed for sale in auction markets, after abruptly closing most border wall construction in 2021

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President-elect Donald Trump then called Stop the Biden administration. Fox News Digital reached out to Trump’s representatives.

“We successfully blocked the Biden administration from putting aside further border wall material before President Trump takes office,” Paxton said.

“This follows our great victory that forced Biden to build the wall, and we will hold his administration accountable for the illegal undermining of our nation’s border security until their last day in office, especially where their actions are clearly motivated by a desire to thwart President-elect Trump’s immigration policies. agenda,” he added.

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In a press release, Paxton’s office said that if the Biden administration were to dispose of border wall materials purchased with funds subject to the ban, in violation of a court order, “this would constitute unethical and sanctionable conduct and officials could be charged with contempt of court.”

Texas said she intends to do everything she can to help the new administration build a wall on the southern border when Trump takes office.

The Biden administration abruptly ended construction of the border wall in January 2021 after 450 miles were built in the first Trump administration. While border hawks say the wall is a key tool to stop illegal immigration, some Democrats say the wall project is xenophobic and ineffective.

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Bidding for parts of the border wall began in 2023 with parts listed for sale on GovPlanet.com, an online auction marketplace. The Ministry of Defense’s Logistics Agency told the media that the excess material had been turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers and was now for sale.

Those auctions have continued, with officials in Arizona telling Fox News Digital that 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, even though the materials could be used in the next Trump administration.

Trump previously called Biden’s efforts a sellout unused edge wall materials at a preferential price “almost a criminal act”.

Trump said the auctions would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to repurchase large steel columns and concrete. He called on President Biden to “please stop selling the wall” and suggested his team would seek a restraining order to stop the sale.

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“What they are doing is actually an act, almost a criminal act,” he said. “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 a few years ago, and that’s hundreds of millions of dollars because you’re talking about lots and lots of walls.”

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw, Brooke Singman and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.