Trump requests $2B for border wall
Another 400 miles of border wall is expected to be constructed this year
President Trump released the details of his fiscal 2021 budget Monday, which included calls for $2 billion for the continued construction of a wall along the country’s southern border.
The submission for additional border wall funding is part of a broader $740 defense budget request.
“The crisis at our southern border has strained Federal resources and overwhelmed agencies charged with border security and immigration enforcement,” the White House said in a statement. “The Budget requests the resources necessary to continue constructing physical barriers on the border, increases the manpower of ICE and CBP, and proposes policy changes to end sanctuary cities.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP'S BUDGET PLAN TO FACE SKEPTICISM
By the end of this year, the administration expects about 400 miles of new border wall will be constructed based on funds made available between 2017 and 2020. More than 100 miles have been built so far.
Conflict over funding for the wall resulted in a record-long partial government shutdown last year, causing Trump to declare a national emergency at the border.
Trump remains insistent that Mexico will ultimately foot the bill for the border wall. In remarks to reporters last month, he indicated the country would pay indirectly through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
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As previously reported by FOX Business, Trump’s overall budget includes spending cuts valued at $4.4 trillion over the course of 10 years. The spending proposal calls for cuts to entitlement programs – with the intention of balancing the budget by 2035.
According to Chris Edwards, director of tax policy at the Cato Institute and editor of www.DownsizingGovernment.org, spending in four years under Trump is expected to be up 21 percent.