White House Seeks $46.5 Billion for Border Wall Construction

SAN DIEGO ( Border Report )—A pair of visitors from Salt Lake City, who were touring Southern California this week, chose to visit the boundary wall between San Diego and Tijuanato explore during their trip.

They were astonished by the height of the fence and how easily they could enter the region.

Before departing, they snapped a selfie in front of the barricade, wanting to preserve this instant as a memory of their extraordinary encounter.

Additional sections of the border wall might emerge if Congress allocates funds to President Donald Trump for constructing an extra 700 miles, building 900 miles of river barricades, and erecting 630 miles of secondary walls as part of a larger legislation that also encompasses the administration's suggested tax incentives and budget reductions.

Border legislators question DHS Secretary Noem, propose security funding alternatives

The House committee in charge of drafting Trump’s border security bill is asking for about $69 billion, a substantial part of which ($46.5 billion), would go to border barriers.

The remaining funds would cover costs for extra initiatives, such as:

• $5 billion for Customs and Border Protection infrastructure improvements
• $4.1 billion for 8,000 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, officers, and support staff
• $2 billion for CBP workforce annual retention bonuses and signing incentives
• $1.07 billion for non-intrusive inspection technology
• $2.7 billion for border monitoring tech
• $500 million for unmanned aircraft systems
• $450 million for Operation Stonegarden, a federal grant program administered by FEMA

"Given the significant number of individuals residing in the country unlawfully who often engage in criminal activities, we require additional resources to uphold the commitments made by President Trump to the American public to remove these persons from our nation," stated Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday morning.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he wants to have a vote on the issue by Memorial Day.

According to the Associated Press, Democrats say they will fight what House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries calls the “extreme Republican agenda.”

If passed, a vote in the Senate would be expected in July.

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