$1.5 Billion for Border Has Produced 1.7 Miles of Fence: Report
Congress appropriated $1.57 billion to build barriers along the border with Mexico in 2018, and according to a recent court filing, that money has produced a total of 1.7 miles of fencing so far.
The data emerged from a court case in Oakland, California, in which 20 states are seeking to block the Trump demonstration’s effort to shift federal funds to build the wall. Douglas Letter, an attorney representing the U.S. House of Representatives, said that Trump administration updated Congress on April 30 on how much border fencing has been built this year, Bloomberg News reported. The administration said that three-quarters of a mile had been built since the last update in February, for a total of 1.7 miles.
Earlier this week, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection report said that the 2018 money was being used to update or build 80 miles of border barrier, including 13 miles of new construction in the Rio Grande Valley. But the report did not specify which portions of the wall have actually been built, or which are expected to be finished.
Trump pushed back against the Bloomberg story Wednesday. “Much of the Wall being built at the Southern Border is a complete demolition and rebuilding of old and worthless barriers with a brand new Wall and footings,” the president tweeted. “Problem is, the Haters say that is not a new Wall, but rather a renovation. Wrong, and we must build where most needed….”
Trump then admitted that there may be some truth to the story that little new has been built, adding, “Also, tremendous work is being done on pure renovation - fixing existing Walls that are in bad condition and ineffective, and bringing them to a very high standard!”
