When U.S. President Joe Biden took office last year, environmentalists were optimistic he would make good on a pledge to halt his predecessor’s expansion of the U.S-Mexican border wall—and possibly also remove certain existing sections. The White House did swiftly announce a 60-day suspension of border-wall construction on Jan. 20, 2021—the day Biden took office. It also began canceling contracts for further such work and restored Department of Defense funds that the administration of former President Donald Trump had taken from the Pentagon for wall projects without congressional approval. But green advocates have not seen a definitive halt to further hardscape expansion, much less the removal of new wall sections they deem destructive to wildlife habitat and water flows. And border-wall funds approved by Congress during the Trump administration—as opposed to those reappropriated from the defense budget—have yet to be canceled, even... [Log in to read more]