Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa is set to introduce a bill to assist states in completing the border wall construction initiated during the Trump administration.
The BUILD IT Act, as it is called, seeks to provide conditions that have attempted to continue building the wall with necessary materials and terminate specific contracts related to the protection of materials that were intended to be used in construction.
The bill requests that the federal government provide states with the materials already purchased for the wall and allow them to continue building it.
"The Federal Government shall deliver to the governments of Arizona, of California, of New Mexico, and of Texas, upon request, any materials associated with the construction of the physical barrier along the international border between the United States and Mexico," according to the bill, which the Washington Examiner obtained before its introduction.
The legislation comes as Title 42, which prevented immigrants who crossed the border from seeking asylum during the COVID-19 pandemic, nears an end. Ernst has backed the continuation of the border wall and warned of the possibilities that would occur if Title 42 is lifted, which is set to end Thursday.
"This will be an impact to the border communities initially as they are trying to absorb all these migrants," Ernst said Monday. "It is already a humanitarian crisis. It will increase exponentially next week."
In recent years, Ernst has been leading the charge for redistributing materials to bolster the border wall. The bill was first proposed last year with an earlier version by Ernst and Senator Rick Scott of Florida.
The bill was co-sponsored by a handful of GOP leaders, such as Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who opposed Biden's border policy. It garnered support from the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Arizona and Texas have both pushed to finish the project, and the Biden administration has fought back. Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, sued the administration in October 2021, demanding the previously approved funds be used to build the wall.
In July 2022, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against former Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona over a makeshift border wall created from shipping containers.
The Biden administration halted the construction of a southern border wall in 2021, pausing all construction. In a press release on the day he took office, Biden stated that tax dollars would no longer be contributed to the wall and that officials would be "directing a careful review of all resources appropriated or redirected to construct a southern border wall."
Ernst has been a vocal advocate for the continuation of the border wall, citing the ongoing crisis at the southern border and the potential for increased illegal crossings if Title 42 is lifted. "Many of these people have been coached by the cartels to claim asylum," Ernst said on Fox. "They will never show up in court. They will be turned out into the United States."
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