Donald Trump Immigration Reform: President Wants $1 Billion for 62 Miles of Border Wall
The United States administration under President Donald Trump is currently seeking an initial $1 billion funding to cover the costs for 62 miles of the southern border of the country. The figure will also cover the repair and replacement of some existing fences.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has drafted justification documents to request $999 million as a budget supplement solely for border security and defense spending. The amount will cover the costs for a total of 48 miles of new wall along the United States– Mexico border, as reported by CNN.
The 48 miles total for new sections of the southern wall is further broken down into four groups of projects. The total is composed of 14 miles of new wall in the San Diego southern border, 28 miles of new levee wall barriers in the Rio Grande valley region, six more miles of new border wall in the aforementioned region, and 14 miles of fencing to be replaced in San Diego.
The $1 billion request for allocation is just a fraction of the billions worth of infrastructure investment needed to complete the border wall that has been the centerpiece of Trump's election campaign. According to the Business Insider, Trump's budget proposal is much more than that, and includes $2.6 billion set aside for "tactical infrastructure" and the design and planning for the wall.
Even this proposal falls way short of some of the cost estimates for the wall's design, construction and maintenance. According to an earlier report by the DHS as covered by Reuters, the total could come up to as much as $21.6 billion.
The proposal can be expected to meet opposition from some state governors including California Governor Jerry Brown, who spoke with NBC last Sunday, according to The Hill.
"We're not going to sit around and just play patsy and say, 'Hey, go ahead. Lock us in. Do whatever the hell you want,'" Brown said. "We're not going to be bringing stupid lawsuits or be running to the courthouse every day. We're going to be careful. We're going to be strategic," Brown added.
