President Biden is defending his decision to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas in order to speed construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Biden’s move to advance a central policy of former President Trump’s platform has prompted condemnation from immigrant rights, environmental and Indigenous activists. At the White House Thursday, a reporter asked Biden why he reversed his campaign pledge that “There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration.”

President Joe Biden: “I’ll answer one question on the border wall. The border wall — the money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get to them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didn’t. They wouldn’t. And in the meantime, there’s nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can’t stop that.”

Reporter: “Do you believe the border wall works?”

President Joe Biden: “No.”

Democratic Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed Biden’s decision, writing, “A wall does nothing to deter people who are fleeing poverty and violence from coming to the United States. You do not risk your life or your children’s lives going through the Darién Gap or traversing hundreds of miles of desert if you have any other options. Walls only serve to push migrants into more remote areas, increasing their chances of death.”