Border Wall update
Bottom Line: Given the massive political football the border wall has become there seemingly are far more misconceptions about what it is, isn’t, what’s already there and what’s happening with the border wall currently. Let’s start with this question. If I were to ask you what’s happening with the southern border wall currently how would you answer?
A) Nothing’s happening with the wall
B) Wall construction is underway
C) What border wall? There isn’t one.
The correct answer is “b” and I have a feeling there aren’t many who’d answer that question correctly given the status of the partial government shutdown and the standoff over funding for the border wall. One of the great misconceptions of the past couple of years is that no border wall funding was approved. Commonly critics of the border wall will ask why, if it were so important, wasn’t it funded when Republicans had control of Congress. The answer is that they did pass through funding to continue projects to repair the existing wall, add to the existing wall and create prototypes for the remainder of the border wall. Here are the facts...
The US currently has 654 miles of physical barriers on the southern border
That’s 33% of the entire southern border that now has a physical barrier.
Work is ongoing to replace 280 miles of the existing border wall/fencing
You might recall President Trump talking about the need to fix and modernize parts of the existing wall previously. That’s what happening right now and what’s been mostly worked on over the past year and a half. The administration prioritized Suring up the existing walls and fences prior to expansion. The project was/is extensive covering a total of 280 miles. The President’s priority now is to obtain funding for the actual expansion of the southern border wall. That’s what’s not currently funded. The $5.7 billion he’s asked for would provide an additional 234 miles of a physical border off of the existing renovated wall upon completion. That would lead to about exactly half of the total need for a physical barrier at the southern border being completed over the next two years.
You might imagine that if successful he’d seek to finish the other half of the wall upon reelection. And that’s the rest of the story...