Donald Trump and his administration have been light on the details about the proposed border wall, so Senate Democrats commissioned their own study. From the New York Times:
The report said the border wall could cost nearly $70 billion to build and $150 million a year to maintain. An internal report by the Department of Homeland Security said the wall could cost about $21.6 billion, not including maintenance.
The new report, which was prepared by the Democratic staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, also found that the construction of a wall would require taking hundreds of acres of private land at a cost of millions to taxpayers and would divert money from crucial mobile video surveillance technology.
“The staff just wanted to summarize where we are at this point, given the lack of substantive answers coming from the administration,” said Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for the Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri and ranking member on the committee.
Trump has yet to explain how the construction would be paid for. We know the Mexican government isn’t going to give a dime. So, are we really going to spend $70 billion for a wall that even Trump’s Homeland Security Chief says will not work?
President Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly, has been clear about his views on a border wall with Mexico: It won’t work.
When asked by senators about his views on a border wall during his confirmation hearing this month, Mr. Kelly, a retired general, said a “physical barrier will not do the job.”
During that confirmation hearing, Kelly suggested diplomacy and partnering with other countries would be more effective:
Rather than depending on a wall, Mr. Kelly said the key to stopping drug smugglers was to attack the problem at its source.
“I believe the defense of the southwest border starts 1,500 miles south and that is partnering with great countries as far south as Peru who are very cooperative with us in terms of getting after the drug production transport,” he said.
Are you, the American taxpayer, willing to pay $70 billion for a wall? One that will no doubt come at the expense of health care, PBS, Meals on Wheels and public education?