Early this morning, Reuters released an article discussing Homeland Security's internal report on President Trump's border 'wall'.
The report released by Homeland Security on Thursday indicates the proposed design along the U.S.-Mexico border includes a number of fences and walls. The plan will be executed in three phases and will cover 1,250 miles (2,000 km) by the end of 2020. Luckily, there is already 654 miles (1,046 km) covered with fortified walls, allowing for the new construction to span almost the entire border.
From the information provided, phase one will cover 26 miles (42 km) in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, and run by San Diego and El Paso. This phase has an estimate of $360 million.
The fences and walls would take up to 3.5 years to construct and cost upwards of $21.6 billion.
During Trump's campaigning, he stated it would cost around $12 billion, while the Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell estimated $15 billion. The report by Homeland Security will be presented to the Secretary, John Kelly, to evaluate and make recommendations. This report is one of the final steps before requesting taxpayer funds from Congress, to begin construction.
The White House and DHS have declined to comment, as they do not want to comment on a report that has not been presented to the president.
To learn more about this topic, please have a look at our previous blog posts regarding Trump's immigration ban here and here, and the article by Reuters regarding the border wall which is available here.
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