Mexico Will Shoulder Wall Cost
Tentative location of US-Mexico Border “Trump Wall.” Photo Credit: The Economist
On Friday, Congress discussed how they can hasten the building of the Southern border wall by using this year’s spending bills. Trump insists that Mexico will eventually reimburse the money spent on constructing the wall.
Trump denies accusations from naysayers that he has totally shifted his position on a major campaign promise. The president-elect, who will be sworn into the White House on January 20, reaffirms that Americans will be building the border wall and Mexicans will be paying taxpayers back after the U.S.’s initial investment.
The incoming president would not back down from any resistance from Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto, who tried to assert that Mexico will not be paying for the wall.
The president-elect explained that it would take too long if Americans would wait for Mexicans to pay for the wall themselves. He explains that America would start building the wall, Mexico would eventually have to pay us back.//mondaymondaynetwork.com/wp-admin/edit.php
How will it work?
The payment for the south border wall will most likely come out of the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump says that the agreement “should have never been signed.” Promising a much better deal, America’s next president has said the payment for building the wall will be part of the new agreement.
Trump has set this safety net to make sure that the Mexicans will pay American taxpayers their due. Using taxpayer money at first will “speed up the process.” Those who are against the plan to include the border wall in the annual federal budget have no choice to agree.
If they choose to delay the passing of the budget to get their way, the act will effectively shut down the government. Legislators have seen what had happened when the government temporarily shut down, and would not want to do just that.
Costs
During the campaign, Trump described the full cost of the wall as “enormous.” The Government Accountability Office has computed the costs themselves. They have estimated the border wall to cost around $6.5 million per mile to build a single layer fence.
An additional $4.2 million should be spent per mile for roads and fencing. The costs are yet to include the maintenance of the fence, which will be nearly 2,000 miles long. With these estimates, Mexico will owe the U.S. taxpayers $21.4 trillion for construction alone.
Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the south border is legally founded. The barrier was authorized by legislation passed in 2006 yet no president has decided to act on it until now. Jennifer Hing, a spokesperson for the House Appropriations Committee, has said that she will take a careful look at the proposal when the next president sends one in.
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Tentative location of US-Mexico Border “Trump Wall.” Photo Credit: The Economist
