WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden`s administration said on Thursday it will add sections to a border wall to stave off record migrant crossings from Mexico, a reversal that embraces a signature policy of former President Donald Trump.

Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination to challenge Biden, a Democrat, in the 2024 presidential race. Trump made building border barriers a central tenet of his first campaign for president with the rally chant, `Build That Wall.

One of Biden`s first actions after taking office in January 2021 was to issue a proclamation pledging that `no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall` as well as a review of all resources that had already been committed. Trump was quick to claim victory and demand an apology.

`As I have stated of ten, over thousands of years, there are only two things that have consistently worked, wheels, and walls!` Trump wrote on social media. `Will Joe Biden apologise to me and America for taking so long to get moving...` Mexico`s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called the move `a step backwards.` The administration said the action did not deviate from Biden`s proclamation because money that was allocated during Trump`s term in 2019 had to be spent now.

Asked by reporters if the border wall works, Biden said `no,` but that the administration had to use the money. I can`t stop that,` he said.-Reuters