After $15 billion and 450 miles, Joe Biden will halt border wall, Trump’s signature project
Nov. 11, 2020
By Todd J. Gillman
The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON — Mexico never paid for any of it. It’s less than half finished. And on Jan. 20 or soon thereafter, construction will come to an abrupt halt on the “big beautiful wall” that President Donald Trump promised to build along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The project has cost $15 billion so far, most of it diverted from the military budget after Congress refused to provide full funding.
President-elect Joe Biden vowed during the campaign to kill the project, but leave in place whatever the Trump administration leaves behind.
At the moment, that’s about 400 miles worth of levee wall and 30-foot-tall bollard fencing, though nearly all of that mileage already had some sort of barrier before Trump took office. Only 12 miles did not.
The rest is upgrade or replacement for shorter, less sturdy fencing, or a second layer of barrier meant to slow migrants and smugglers long enough for the Border Patrol to arrive.
“It was a referendum on the wall,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, said of the election. Cuellar has fought on the Appropriations Committee to stymie Trump budget maneuvers that sapped billions from military spending for his pet project.
more:
http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/after-15-billion-and-450-miles-joe-biden-will-halt-border-wall-trumps-signature-project/
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