According to Politico, the 11-year-old law, the Secure Fence Act, authorized the construction of 700 miles-plus of « physical barrier » on the southern border, but was never fully implemented and did not include a sunset provision.
However, Politico reported another part of Trump’s campaign promise – that Mexico would pay for the border wall – is not part of the plan, and funding through Congress is likely to run into resistance from Democrats, Politico reported.
« There’s already in existing law the authorization for hundreds of miles of build out on the southern border . so, one important step in the right direction will be funding the existing law and beginning the building out of hundreds of miles of wall, or fence, on the southern border, » the House Republican Policy Committee chair, Indiana GOP Rep. Luke Messer, told Politico.
« If tied to the rest of government funding, it’s much harder for the Democrats to stop, and by the way, I think it’s much harder for Democrats to vote against it if what you’re doing is authorizing funding for an existing law, » he added.
The tentative plan would likely be just a piece of a broader, multi-year border security strategy, Politico reported.
The cost of a border wall is estimated anywhere from a few billion dollars to as much as $14 billion; that doesn’t include other costs associated with the building and maintenance, Politico reported.
« I think the sooner Republicans can get it done the better because [Trump] made such an issue out of it, » New York GOP Rep. Peter King, the former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee – who authored the 2006 bill currently being considered – told Politico.
Other wall funding vehicles being considered include the 2018 appropriations bill for the Homeland Security Department and a stand-alone legislative package, Politico reported.
