CBP Estimates $18 Billion Cost for First Phase of Trump U.S.-Mexico Border Wall
By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2018
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provided an estimate to Congress regarding the estimated cost of building the first phase of President Donald J. Trump’s proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall at $18 Billion, which would be paid by U.S. taxpayers instead of Mexico as Trump campaigned on.
The $18 Billion would include 316 miles of new fencing and reinforcement of 407 mile of border fence. Trump’s goal is to have one-half (50%) of the almost 2,000 miles long U.S.-Mexico border fenced by 2027.
In addition to these $18 Billion for Phase I of the Trump Border Wall, CBP is requesting Congress to allocate another $8 Billion for hiring of 10,000 new personnel and training, $5 Billion for new acquisition of new border technology, and $1 Billion for development of new access roads along the U.S.-Mexico border, totaling over $32 Billion during the next decade.
CBP provided this cost estimate of Trump’s Border Wall and additional funding needed in response to Democratic Sentators who requested these cost figures in order to utilize them in current budget negotiations between President Trump, Republicans, and Democrats as well as immigration negotiations such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which is set to expire in March of 2018.
Unless the Trump Administration, Republicans, and Democrats reach an agreement on the budget and immigration negotiations this month, there could be a shutdown of the federal government on January 20, 2018. President Trump is using the building of his proposed Border Wall as a negotiating chip in providing relief to over 800,000 DACA recipients, which Democrats oppose the use of DACA recipients as human pawns for the political whims of Trump.
U.S.-Mexico border security experts contend that the proposed Trump Border Wall is totally unnecessary and wasteful spending of federal monies as other technology is available to secure the border at significant cost savings than the astronomical $18 Billion for 316 new miles of border fencing.
Even Republican leaders concede the proposed Trump Border Wall is unnecessary and impractical to build and fund at such an exorbitant cost expense of $18 Billion, particularly in light of the just passed tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy that will add $1.5 Billion to the U.S. national debt.
The U.S.-Mexico border is among the poorest regions in the United States in need of great infrastructure, education, healthcare, economic development, and international trade investments in order to improve the quality of life of its over 15 million residents.
Democrats contend that President Trump may risk a federal government shutdown on January 20th and failing to reach an agreement on providing relief to the 800,000 DACA recipients just to gain leverage for Congressional funding of the totally unnecessary Trump Border Wall.
