Trump complains border wall is not finished but claims it is ‘working magnificently’

Former president claims US ‘being destroyed’ at the border with Mexico

Donald Trump has complained that his prized border wall is not yet finished, but claimed it is “working magnificently” in a new statement.

The former president attacked opponents of his wall amid a growing number of border crossings and claims of an immigration “crisis” by Republicans.

In his latest statement since being kicked off Twitter, Mr Trump claimed that the United States was “being destroyed” at its southern border with Mexico.

“When I was president, our southern border was in great shape – stronger, safer and more secure than ever before,” wrote Mr Trump.

“We ended Catch and Release, shut down asylum fraud, and crippled the vicious smugglers, drug dealers and human traffickers.

“The wall, despite horrendous Democrat delays, would easily have been finished by now, and is working magnificently.

“Out country is being destroyed at the Southern border, a terrible thing to see!”

The number of unaccompanied children now in US Border Patrol facilities has spiked since Joe Biden took office, according to CNN.

More than 3,200 unaccompanied migrant children were in Customs and Border Protection custody, according to internal documents seen by the news channel.

Of those, 2,600 were waiting for placement in shelters suitable for minors, which had around 500 beds available.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas led a visit by Biden administration officials to the US border with Mexico over the weekend.

Mr Biden is attempting to reverse the “cruel” immigration policies of Mr Trump that saw migrant children separated from their families in an attempt to discourage people from journeying to the border.

Mr Trump claimed that during his presidency more than 400 miles of wall were built along that border.

However, only 80 miles of wall were actually built where none already existed, and the overwhelming majority of it was just replacement for existing structures and fences.

Mr Trump repeatedly claimed that he would force Mexico to pay for the wall, which never happened, and the US government had to spend an estimated $15bn on the project.