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Also see: Drugs; Mexico;
border adjustment tax; race; immigration;
Jump to:
2015;
2016; 2017;
2018; 2019;
2020;
Undated: The Mexico–United States barrier,
sometimes colloquially called the Border Wall, is a series of
vertical barriers along the
Mexico–United States border aimed at
preventing
illegal crossings from Mexico into the United States.[1]
The barrier is not one contiguous structure, but a discontinuous series of
physical obstructions variously classified as "fences" or "walls".
Between the physical barriers, security is provided by a "virtual fence" of
sensors, cameras, and other
surveillance equipment used to dispatch
United States Border Patrol agents to suspected migrant crossings.[2]
As of January 2009,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that it had more than 580 miles
(930 km) of barriers in place.[3]
The total length of the continental border is 1,954 miles (3,145 km).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico%E2%80%93United_States_barrier
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Undated: The Trump Wall, or simply
The Wall, is a
colloquial name[1]
for a proposed expansion of the fence that makes up the
Mexico–United States barrier during the
presidency of Donald Trump. Throughout his
2016 presidential campaign,
Donald
Trump called for the construction of a much larger and fortified border
wall, claiming that if elected, he would "build the wall and make Mexico pay for
it." Then-President
of Mexico
Enrique Peña Nieto stated that his country would not pay for the wall.[2][3][4]
On January 25, 2017, the Trump administration signed
Executive Order 13767, which formally directed the US government to begin
attempting to construct a border wall using existing federal funding, although
actual construction of a wall did not begin at this time due to the large
expense and lack of clarity on how it would be paid for.[5]
The federal government was
partly shut down December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019, due to Trump's
declared intention to
veto any spending bill that did not include $5 billion in funding for a
border wall.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_wall
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Taxpayer-funded: White House: Wall funds would
be ‘back-filled’ in 2020 budget request
Trump will take money from Pentagon and Treasury that would bring total wall
funding to $8 billion
That means U.S. taxpayers would pay for every penny of the wall in fiscal 2019 —
even though Trump long promised that Mexico would pay for it.
February 15, 2019
https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/trumps-executive-order-will-tap-8-billion-in-pentagon-treasury-funds-for-wall-source-says
Veto:
President Donald Trump issued the first veto of his presidency on Friday,
rejecting Congress' resolution to terminate his declaration of a national
emergency on the southern border [to build his wall without their approval].
March 15, 2019
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-issues-first-veto-rejecting-measure-overturn-border-declaration-n983676
Up next:
Dems prepare next steps after Trump's veto
March 15, 2019
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/434326-dems-prepare-next-steps-after-trumps-veto
-- 2015 --
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January 24: ... Trump told [an] audience, drawing applause, that "we have to
build a fence ... it has to be a beauty. I build nice fences. Fences are easy."
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Donald-Trump-president-border-wall/2015/01/26/id/620769/
January 26: "People are pouring across our
borders, which is horrible," Trump said. "We have to build a wall. ... Look, I
build some of the greatest buildings in the world. Building a wall for me is
easy. And it would be a wall. It would be a real wall. Not a wall that people
walk over."
"We have people who are crooks," he maintained. "You could have terrorists.You can have Islamic terrorists. You can have anything coming across
the border. We don't do anything about it. If I run and when, I would start by
building a powerful border again."
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Donald-Trump-president-border-wall/2015/01/26/id/620769/
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June 16: Trump ... "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and
I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/16/donald-trump-vows-build-border-wall/
June 16: Trump regarding need for border wall ... “You have people coming in,
and I’m not just saying Mexicans, I’m talking about people that are from all
over that are killers and rapists and they’re coming into this country,” ...
“...you have people coming through the border that are from all over. And
they’re bad. They’re really bad,” he said.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/donald-trump-i-would-force-mexico-build-border-wall
June 16:
Donald Trump said Tuesday that if
elected president he will erect a wall along the country’s southern border and
said that taxpayers won’t have to pay a dime for it.
Mr. Trump has
long touted what he sees as his unmatched skills when it comes to building walls
and doing so at the best bang for the buck.
And on Tuesday the 69-year-old added another wrinkle, saying
Mexico will pick up
the tab.
“I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will have
Mexico pay for that
wall,” Mr. Trump
said.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/16/donald-trump-vows-build-border-wall/
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June 17: “Building a wall is easy, and it
can be done inexpensively,” [Trump] the Republican presidential candidate said
in an interview. “It’s not even a difficult project if you know what you’re
doing.’’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-on-the-us-mexico-border-building-a-wall-is-easy/2015/07/16/9a619668-2b0c-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html?utm_term=.d26732fca76c
July 13: For more than a
century, innumerable studies have confirmed two simple yet powerful truths about
the relationship between immigration and crime: immigrants are less likely to
commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born, and high rates of
immigration are associated with lower rates of violent crime and property crime.
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/criminalization-immigration-united-states
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August 18: Setting aside the issue of how
the United States might make Mexico pay for a blatant monument to anti-Mexican
sentiment, the idea is flat-out moronic, to use one of The Donald’s favorite
adjectives, like asking the Mongolians to pay for the Great Wall of China.
In the first place, it’s not as if the border is undefended. The United States
spends $3.7 billion per year to keep around 21,000 Border Patrol agents in
the field, and another $3.2 billion on 23,000 inspectors at ports of entry along
the border, a third of which has already been
walled
or fenced off. It is perhaps the most patrolled and highly defended border
anywhere in the world, at least for two closely connected countries at peace
with one another.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/18/donald-trump-immigration-border/
September 1: Donald Trump’s
Shaky Grasp on Immigration ... more unauthorized immigrants have
left the United States than have come in. Careful estimates by the Pew Research
Center show that
the number of undocumented Mexicans living in the United States shrank by
roughly 1.1 million by 2012, from its peak in 2007.
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Border Patrol personnel have doubled since 2004, to more
than 21,000. More than 650 miles of fencing has been built, festooned with
sensors and backed up by drones ... immigration enforcement takes up half the
nation’s entire law enforcement budget. The border patrol’s budget alone has
increased more than tenfold since 1970, to nearly $4 billion.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/business/economy/trumps-shaky-stance-on-illegal-immigration.html?_r=0
September 3: The US has the largest and most technologically powerful
economy in the world, with a GDP 13 times larger than Mexico's; likewise, the
U.S. per capita income is four times larger than Mexico's. With $308 billion
yearly trade, Mexico's is the U.S. third largest trade partner after Canada and
China. By no stretch of the imagination could Mexico be
"killing" the U.S. economically.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/doliaestevez/2015/09/03/debunking-donald-trumps-five-extreme-statements-about-immigrants-and-mexico/2/#57e481611ce1
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September 14: Donald
Trump's Great Wall — it didn't work for the Ming Dynasty either...
just as the Ming Dynasty’s 13,000-mile wall failed to keep out the Manchurians,
Trump's barricade would likely be an ineffective way of addressing the nation’s
immigration challenges, border experts say.
The U.S. Border Patrol estimates that it already either
catches or turns back nearly 90% of those it observes trying to cross the
border.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/09/14/donald-trump-border-wall/72026830/
-- 2016 --
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February 11: Donald Trump put a price tag on
the wall he wants to build on the 2,000-mile border with Mexico – $8 billion. He
also described the wall in a bit more detail — it would be 1,000 miles long,
made of precast concrete slabs, rising 35 to 40 feet in the air.
Trump has repeatedly said Mexico will pay for the wall, though Mexican leaders
dismiss that as a fantasy. He has suggested that the money would come from
reducing the $50 billion trade deficit with Mexico ...
... just for two raw materials [cement and rebar], we are looking at nearly $2
billion. But of course, the wall would need to be designed, land would need to
be acquired, environmental impact statements would need to be done,
concrete-casting facilities would need to be built, materials would need to be
shipped, and workers would need to be hired, housed and fed.
We spoke to a retired estimator and economist for one of the nation’s largest
construction firms ... Roughly, he said a wall of this type would cost at least
$25 billion — and that is not counting a video system to keep watch on the
border. Building the wall would also require at least 40,000 workers a year for
at least four years, but he doubted it could be built so quickly.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/02/11/trumps-dubious-claim-that-his-border-wall-would-cost-8-billion/?utm_term=.b2226133b98c
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August 2:
President Trump’s plan for an aggressive hiring surge of
15,000 Border Patrol and immigration personnel to help keep out undocumented
immigrants is unrealistic — and the Department of Homeland Security has not made
a case for it, the agency’s watchdog says.
A
report released this week by the DHS inspector general concludes that based
on its rigorous screening requirement for law enforcement jobs and the
relatively high rate of attrition among Border Patrol agents, Homeland Security
would have to vet 750,000 applicants to find 5,000 qualified personnel.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-plan-to-hire-15000-border-and-immigration-personnel-isnt-justified-federal-watchdog-says/2017/08/02/c9345136-77a1-11e7-8839-ec48ec4cae25_story.html?utm_term=.fb8dc051152e
September 1: US Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump has insisted Mexico will pay for a border wall "100%", in
a major immigration speech.
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He told a cheering crowd in Arizona that he would secure the border, and left
open the possibility that millions of illegal immigrants be deported.
Hours earlier, he met Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto but said they had not
discussed financing the wall.
The [Mexican] president later insisted he had told Mr Trump Mexico would not
pay.
http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37241284
November 17:
Trump's border wall may be
collapsing ...
Many congressional Republicans favor a simpler idea — abandon the idea of
building a massive wall and focus instead on other ways to increase border
security.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/trumps-border-wall-may-be-collapsing-231567
-- 2017 --
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January 11: Trump insisted that Mexico will
"reimburse us" for costs of building a wall on the U.S. -- Mexico border, and
insisted that it will be a wall, "not a fence."
Trump's comments came during his first news conference as President-elect on
Wednesday, and he maintained that he would be able to get Mexico to pay for the
wall, eventually, despite flat rejections from Mexican government officials. But
the President-elect said he'd rather build the wall and get payment from Mexico
later.
"On the fence -- it's not a fence. It's a wall," Trump began. "We're going to
build a wall.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/11/politics/trump-border-wall-mexico-payment-presser/index.html
January 25: The crossing of undocumented migrants and drugs has not stopped along the most
formidable stretch of border fence between the U.S. and Mexico. Would the wall
proposed by the new president really work?
http://www.univision.com/univision-news/immigration/this-is-the-triple-fence-along-the-us-mexico-border-that-trump-wants-to-model-for-his-wall
February 3: Hill
Republicans revolt over Trump’s plans to build border wall
https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2017/02/03/hill-republicans-revolt-over-trumps-plans-to-build-border-wall/#.WgoLcd1odkg
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February 7:
What Geology Has to Say About Building a 1,000-Mile Border Wall ... Compared to
erecting a marble palace or high-steepled church, a wall may seem relatively
straightforward—it isn’t
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/vast-geological-challenges-building-border-wall-180962072/
February 9:
President Donald Trump’s “wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border would be a series
of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6 billion, and take more than
three years to construct, based on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security
internal report ....
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-wall-exclusive/exclusive-trump-border-wall-to-cost-21-6-billion-take-3-5-years-to-build-internal-report-idUSKBN15O2ZN
February 17: Trump wants a wall along the border
with Mexico. Career officials ... are set to recommend a fence—one that will
cover only about half the length
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/politics/trump-border-wall/?iid=EL
February 22:
Six barriers to Trump's border security plans
https://terror-alert.com/news/six-barriers-to-trump-s-border-security-plans?uid=49040
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February 22:
Where will people be detained? Trump's policies have the
potential to
massively increase the number of undocumented immigrants held in detention
and processed for deportation ... There are already
more than 542,000 cases pending in the backlogged US immigration courts ...
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/22/politics/barriers-donald-trumps-border-security/
February 23:
Landowners Likely To Bring More Lawsuits As Trump Moves On Border Wall
https://www.npr.org/2017/02/23/516895052/landowners-likely-to-bring-more-lawsuits-as-trump-moves-on-border-wall
Trump moves to build border wall, cut sanctuary city funds
Trump says he has ordered "immediate construction" of border wall plus an
additional 5,000 border patrol officers and tripling of ICE officers.
http://www.univision.com/univision-news/politics/trump-moves-to-build-border-wall-cut-sanctuary-city-funds
February 25:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Friday that it plans to start awarding
contracts by mid-April for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall with
Mexico, signaling that he is aggressively pursuing plans to erect “a great wall”
along the 2,000-mile border.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/mexico-border-wall-construction-contract-bids-open-march-6
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March 1: A Mexican congressman tweeted
photos of himself at the top of a 30-foot portion of the Mexico-U.S. border wall
this Wednesday to prove a point to President Trump.
“I was able to scale it, climb it, and sit myself right here,” Braulio Guerra, a
congressman from Querétaro, in central Mexico, said in a video. “It would be
simple for me to jump into the United States, which shows that it is unnecessary
and totally absurd to build a wall.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/322144-a-mexican-lawmaker-climbed-the-border-wall-to-prove-a-point-to
March 3:
March 11: One
in 10 firms bidding for Trump's Mexico wall project are Hispanic-owned ...
More than 600 businesses have registered interest
in the first phase of the $21bn project and while some see ethical dilemmas, for
others work is work ...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/11/mexico-border-wall-hispanic-owned-construction-companies
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March 17: The Cost of Trump’s Wall Compared to the Programs He’s Proposing
to Cut
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-cost-of-trumps-wall-compared-to-the-programs-hes-proposing-to-cut
March 28: President Donald Trump’s
administration wants the first $1 billion of border wall funding to cover 62
miles, including replacing some existing fencing along the US’ southern border
with Mexico, a media report said. The $999 million requested by the White House
in its budget supplement for just defence and border security spending would
cover just 48 miles of the new wall
http://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/trump-administration-wants-first-1billion-for-border-wall/605389/
April 4:
Bidding Closes For Building Trump's Border Wall
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/04/522652528/bids-for-trump-s-border-wall-are-due-today
April 4: The Trump administration will have to
seize private property from thousands of Americans in order to complete the
wall, a move that "is expected to prompt years of legal battles, cost tens of
millions in taxpayer dollars and delay construction,"
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/04/politics/donald-trump-border-wall-construction-companies/index.html
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April 8:
Trump's Mexican border wall: See the proposals
http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/07/news/companies/mexican-border-wall-trump/index.html
On Twitter: The Democrats don't want money from budget going to border wall
despite the fact that it will stop drugs and very bad MS 13 gang members.
April 23
@realDonaldTrump
On Twitter: The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from
pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)!
If....the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will
NEVER be fixed the way it should be!#BuildTheWall
April 24
@realDonaldTrump
April 24: Mexican engineers believe
construction of the border barrier may violate a 47-year-old treaty governing
the shared waters of the Rio Grande. If Mexico protests, the fate of the wall
could end up in an international court.
http://www.npr.org/2017/04/25/525383494/trump-s-proposed-u-s-mexico-border-wall-may-violate-1970-treaty?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20170425&utm_campaign=breakingnews&utm_term=nprnews
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April 28: Would Trump’s border wall cost the
same as one and a half U.S. aircraft carriers? ... [not exactly ...] Building a
$21.6 billion border wall would cost about 1.67 times the price of these new
warships.
http://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2017/apr/28/scott-peters/would-trumps-border-wall-cost-same-one-and-half-us/
April 29: Trump delivered a rousing address to a crowd of supporters in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania instead of attending the White House Correspondents'
Association dinner in Washington. The nearly-hour long speech began with attacks
on the press and covered his tax plan, jobs, the yet-to-be-built wall, trade and
other topics Trump had touted throughout his 2016 campaign.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/29/politics/gergen-trump-speech-cnntv/?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottomlist
May 2: The Tohono O'odham Nation's land
resides in the southern part of Arizona and in the Mexican state of Sonora. A
portion of the Tohono O'odham's reservation — a 75-mile stretch of land near the
border — happens to be right in the middle of where President Donald Trump wants
to build the wall. Tribal officials and Tohono O'odham citizens are not in
favor, saying: "Over
my dead body," according to an Arizona Republic story.
https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-05-02/president-trump-will-native-american-sovereignty-make-difference-when-you-decide
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June 6: Trump
pitched Republican leaders on a solar-paneled border wall
...
https://www.axios.com/trump-pitched-republican-leaders-on-a-solar-paneled-border-wall-1513302804-07c642d7-5a34-4eda-8ef6-5ce53df17e4d.html
June 22: "We're thinking
about building the wall as a solar wall so it creates energy and pays for
itself," Trump said at a rally Wednesday night in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "And this
way, Mexico will have to pay much less money. And that's good, right?"
Trump had previously floated the solar panel idea during a closed-door meeting
with Republican members of Congress earlier this month, but this was the first
time he'd discussed the idea publicly.
"Pretty good imagination, right?" Trump said at the rally, framing the plan as
"my idea."
Not quite.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/22/politics/donald-trump-immigration-border-wall-iowa-speech/?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottomlist
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June 23:
The notion of adding solar panels to the border wall was
explored in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in March. Vasilis Fthenakis, director of
the Center for Life Cycle Analysis at Columbia University, and Ken Zweibel,
former director of the Solar Institute at George Washington University,
concluded it was “not only technically and economically feasible, it might even
be more practical than a traditional wall.”
They said a 2,000-mile solar wall could cost less than $1 billion, instead of
tens of billions for a traditional border wall, and possibly become “wildly
profitable.” The writers were studying a concept laid out by Homero Aridjis and
James Ramey in the online World Post in December.
The idea also was proposed by one of the companies that submitted a design to
the government as a border wall prototype.
https://www.apnews.com/77377113fc4d4b98936875abd3f5621d
July 2: ... when Congress appropriated money
earlier this year to fund the government, opposition from Democrats and some
Republicans alike left the administration empty handed in terms of funding any
new construction ... Building a border wall remains a stated top priority for
President Donald Trump, but thus far he has precious little to show for it.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/02/politics/border-wall-white-house-push/?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottomlist
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July 2: ... Democrats from the outset
threatened that inclusion of wall money would be a deal breaker on the budget,
which needs Democratic votes to pass, meaning the White House risked a
government shutdown standoff ...
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/02/politics/border-wall-white-house-push/?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottomlist
July 27: The House voted Thursday to approve
a spending bill with $1.6 billion to put toward a border wall along the
US-Mexico border, part of a high-profile campaign pledge from President Donald
Trump.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/27/politics/spending-bill-vote-border-wall-money/index.html
August 4: According to a transcript [leaked
about Trump phone calls] published Thursday by The Washington Post, President
Donald Trump
boasted about his election victory, pressured his Mexican counterpart to
remain quiet about a border wall and called New Hampshire a "drug-infested den"
in a phone call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/04/politics/leaking-donald-trump-democrats/index.html
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August 4: President
Donald Trump appeared to
describe his proposed border wall as a political tool and admit he knew Mexico
would not fund it in a January call with Mexico's president,
according to a transcript of the call obtained by The Washington Post.
"If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do
not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that," Trump
said, according to the Post transcript.
Trump also said the wall was "the least important thing we are talking about,
but politically this might be the most important."
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/03/trump-speaks-differently-about-border-wall-with-mexican-president.html
August 22: Trump: I'm building the wall even
'if we have to close down our government'
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/22/trump-says-hes-willing-to-shut-down-the-government-to-get-his-border-wall.html
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August 25:
Forget funding the wall, Trump needs the land first ...
On
Tuesday evening, President Trump threatened to shutdown the government over
funding for his border wall proposal. He thundered, “Build
that wall… the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it. But
believe me, if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall.”
But the Democrats are not the obstructionists.
The main obstruction is the land. Congress shouldn’t be clamoring about
funding the wall — they should be looking to prior federal land acquisitions for
major projects as evidence of the impediments that lie ahead.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/347912-forget-funding-the-wall-trump-needs-the-land-first
September 12:
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September 13: Late Wednesday, Democratic
leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi said they had "agreed to
enshrine the protections of (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program)
into law quickly, and to work out a package of border security, excluding the
wall, that's acceptable to both sides." [Of course, Trump is infamous for saying
things he doesn't mean or saying things in a way that mean something he didn't
intend].
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/politics/chuck-schumer-nancy-pelosi-donald-trump/index.html
September 13: If a deal on some immigration
and border issues happens, it would be the second major agreement between Trump,
Schumer and Pelosi this month following their pact last week to raise the debt
ceiling and extend government funding into December that left the GOP and some
of Trump's closest allies flabbergasted.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/politics/chuck-schumer-nancy-pelosi-donald-trump/index.html
On Twitter: No deal was made last night on
DACA. Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for
consent. Would be subject to vote.
September 14
@realDonaldTrump
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September 20:
Less than 25% of Republicans in
Congress endorse border wall funding in USA TODAY survey ... President Trump has
been adamant that he needs Congress to approve funding to start building his
border wall, but Republicans on Capitol Hill are far less adamant about
supporting it. When asked by the USA TODAY Network whether they support the
president’s initial $1.6 billion budget request to begin construction, only
69 of the 292 Republicans on Capitol Hill said "yes." Among the rest, three
Republicans said they oppose the money, several evaded a direct answer, and the
rest simply refused to respond to the question.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/09/20/trump-border-wall-survey-congress-republicans-billions/640196001/
October 9: The White House has tied any new
deal on young undocumented immigrants to a clampdown on illegal immigration,
including a border wall with Mexico.
US President Donald Trump is asking for funding for the wall, speedier
deportations and the hiring of thousands of new immigration officials.
Last month he ended the Obama-era "Dreamer" programme which had protected some
690,000 immigrants.
Back to top
Leading Democrats in Congress have rejected the latest proposals.
They accused Mr Trump of backtracking on a commitment not to include the border
wall in negotiations over the status of young immigrants, who are mostly from
Mexico and other Latin American countries.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41548363
October 11:
[Trump's close friend Thomas] Barrack, in interviews with The Washington Post,
said he has been "shocked" and "stunned" by some of the president's rhetoric and
inflammatory tweets. He disagrees with some of Trump's proposals, including his
efforts to ban immigrants from certain Muslim countries and his push for a
border wall with Mexico. He wonders why his longtime friend spends so much of
his time appealing to the fringes of American politics.
"He thinks he has to be loyal to his base," Barrack said. "I keep on saying,
'But who is your base? You don't have a natural base. Your base now is the world
and America, so you have all these constituencies; show them who you really
are.' In my opinion, he's better than this."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hes-better-than-this-says-thomas-barrack-trumps-loyal-whisperer/2017/10/10/067fc776-a215-11e7-8cfe-d5b912fabc99_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9fdd6cdd38f3
Back to top
October 19: A first look at 8 possible
versions of President Donald Trump's border wall
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/border-issues/2017/10/18/first-look-8-possible-versions-president-donald-trump-border-wall/747998001/
October 29: The
ecological disaster that is Trump’s border wall: a visual guide ... The wall
could cut off a Texas wildlife refuge and the habitat of big, beautiful cats.
... what is undeniable is that the 654 miles of walls and fences already on the
US-Mexico border have made a mess out of the environment there. They’ve cut off,
isolated, and reduced populations of some of the rarest and most amazing animals
in North America, like the jaguar and ocelot (also known as the dwarf jaguar).
They’ve led to the creation of miles of roads through pristine wilderness areas.
They’ve even
exacerbated flooding, becoming dams when rivers have overflowed.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/4/10/14471304/trump-border-wall-animals
Back to top
October 31:
Crossing California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, the border spans nearly
every type of terrain, including cities, farmlands, deserts, mountains, valleys,
reservoirs, and even a National Park. The majority of the border—1,254 miles or
63%—is marked by the Rio Grande River, which flows up to 500 feet wide and 60
feet deep at certain points.3
Only one-third of the land on which the southern
border is located is owned by the federal government or Native American
tribes—the rest is largely state property or farmland owned by individual
ranchers.
In
1970, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty that restricts construction
along the Rio Grande and prohibits disrupting the river’s natural flow. Because
the river itself is the border between the United States and Mexico,
any changes to its flow or course can alter the boundary between the countries.9
As a result, both countries are restricted from building in the river or within
its flood plain if doing so would increase flooding on its banks or affect the
course of the river. Establishing any physical barriers along the Rio Grande
requires either joint approval from the U.S. and Mexico via the International
Boundary and Water Commission or that any structure be built sufficiently inland
to avoid impacting the river.
http://www.thirdway.org/memo/the-state-of-the-southern-border
November 13: In
July, Customs and Border Protection issued a
notice related to a project to shore up existing fencing the Rio Grande
Valley, which ... foreshadowed more to come.
"Using existing funds for
preparatory activities, CBP and (US Army Corps of Engineers) will soon begin
public-facing real estate research activities for (Rio Grande Valley) border
wall requirements in the President's FY 2018 budget," the notice said, citing
in-person research on property records at courthouses.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/13/politics/border-wall-eminent-domain/index.html
Back to top
November 14:
Trump admin
taking quiet steps on seizing border land, report says
https://mexicoinstitute.wordpress.com/2017/11/14/trump-admin-taking-quiet-steps-on-seizing-border-land-report-says/
November 14:
The Trump Administration is Hiring
12 Attorneys to Seize Land for His Border Wall
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-hiring-12-attorneys-seize-land-his-border-wall-710444
December 8:
Trump's
border wall: Climbing tests begin on prototypes ... US Customs and Border
Protection officials are making sure the wall prototypes cannot be breached.
President Trump says he will visit the site and pick the winning design after
the tests.
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-42288681/trump-s-border-wall-climbing-tests-begin-on-prototypes
-- 2018 --
Back to top
January 4: President Donald Trump pressed
for action on immigration Thursday, saying the country's system has failed
Americans and pressing for his wall on the southern border.
Any legislation to address the residency status of "Dreamers," currently in
limbo, "must secure the border with a wall," the president said, flanked by
Republican senators who came to the White House for a meeting on immigration.
"We’d love to take care of DACA, but we’re only going to do it under these
conditions," he concluded, laying down a red line as
Congress gears up for yet another round of fights to fund the government.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-border-wall-must-be-part-any-daca-deal-n834671
January 4: Trump tells GOP senators that
2,200-mile border wall not needed in immigration deal
President Trump on Thursday laid out his demands for an immigration
deal to Republican senators, making clear he doesn't expect Congress to build a
physical 2,200-mile concrete wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Back to top
Instead, the president wants Congress to increase security along the border by
ratcheting up patrols, surveillance and fencing
“People want to paint that it’s some 2,000-mile long, 30-foot-high wall of
concrete. That’s not what he means and not what he tries to say,” said Sen.
James Lankford (R-Okla.), who met with Trump at the White House Thursday.
https://www.google.com/search?ei=3GxSWuKVB4uXjwSKqYvQCg&q=trump+daca+wall&oq=trump+daca+wall&gs_l=psy-ab.3...3210.14258.0.14683.16.12.0.0.0.0.1678.2999.7-1j1.2.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..14.1.1320...0j0i131i67k1j0i131k1.0.fweHNZy3pf4
[On January 11 2017: "On the fence -- it's not a
fence. It's a wall," Trump [said]. "We're going to build a wall.]
January 5: Trump’s border wall keeps getting
shorter and more expensive
https://qz.com/1172972/trumps-border-wall-keeps-getting-shorter-and-more-expensive/
January 6: The Trump administration has
proposed spending $18 billion over 10 years to significantly extend the border
wall with Mexico, providing one of its most detailed blueprints of how the
president hopes to carry out a signature campaign pledge.
Back to top
The proposal by Customs and Border Protection calls for 316 miles (505
kilometers) of additional barrier by September 2027, bringing total coverage to
970 miles (1,552 kilometers), or nearly half the border, according to a U.S.
official with direct knowledge of the matter.
It also calls for 407 miles (651 kilometers) of replacement or secondary fencing
http://time.com/5091024/donald-trump-mexico-border-wall/
January 6: President Trump refused to back
down from one of his major campaign promises at Camp David on Saturday, assuring
a room full of reporters that Mexico will pay for a southern border wall.
“I believe that Mexico will pay for the wall,” the president said, capping the
first week in 2018. “I have a very good relationship with Mexico. We're
negotiating NAFTA, see how that goes, yes, but Mexico will pay, in some form,
Mexico will pay for the wall.”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-reignites-mexico-will-pay-for-the-wall-cause-in-2018/article/2645200
Back to top
January 6: Trump asks for $33B for border,
including $18B for wall
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/05/politics/border-security-billions-trump-wall/index.html
January 6: Caving on a wall or on curbs to
legal immigration in order to protect the dreamers is a wildly lopsided
trade-off in favor of immigration hawks, Democrats said. Polls show upward of 80
percent of the public favors a solution to allow dreamers to remain in the
country, and some Republican lawmakers have said they support a deal –
highlighting the complex politics for the GOP in a midterm-election year.
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/01/06/trumps-mexico-border-wall-democrats/
January 7: Former Maryland Gov. Martin
O'Malley (D) said it is "morally defensible" for Democrats to approve President
Trump's planned border wall if it means protecting 800,000 DACA recipients
living in the United States.
O'Malley said the wall is unnecessary and said the president has a history of "scapegoating"
immigrants like those coming from Mexico.
But, he said that building a wall as Trump intends is small ball compared to his
party's wish to give DACA recipients the ability to live freely in the country.
Back to top
"I
don’t think the people of the country believe that [the wall] is needed... But
having to say that, if the trade-off for some legislators is that you have to
accept Donald Trump’s obsession with his big wall, given the stable genius that
he is, in order to make 800,000 people secure in their citizenship in the United
States, I think that’s a morally-defensible trade-off," O'Malley, a 2016
Democratic presidential candidate, said.
http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/01/07/martin-omalley-trumps-racist-border-wall-ok-trade-democrats-wanting-daca-dreamers
January 8:
Mr. Trump's budget request for a wall
represents more than half of the $33 billion spending blueprint for border
security over the next decade. It either eliminates critical funding for border
security programs or shifts money from them, threatening to leave gaping holes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/us/politics/trump-border-wall-funding-surveillance.html
January 19:
Everything We Know About Donald Trump's Proposed Border Wall ...
http://fortune.com/2018/01/19/donald-trump-border-wall/
Back to top
January 25:
Texas smugglers say Trump's
border wall wouldn't stop immigrants, drugs from pouring across the border
If the Trump administration follows through on the president's promises to build
a border wall, would it actually stop undocumented immigrants and illegal drugs?
Two former smugglers explain how they'd work around it.
https://www.texastribune.org/2018/01/25/texas-smugglers-say-trumps-border-wall-wouldnt-stop-immigrants-drugs-p/
January 28:
Why President Trump's
Border Wall Is An Example Of Bad Leadership
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2017/01/28/why-president-trumps-border-wall-is-an-example-of-bad-leadership/#25b6d07d26cf
January 29:
Trump administration waives
over 30 laws to jumpstart border wall construction
https://archpaper.com/2018/01/trump-administration-waives-laws-jumpstart-border-wall/
Back to top
February 6: Judge criticized by Trump will
hear case on border wall
A federal judge whose impartiality was questioned by then-candidate Donald Trump
because of his Mexican heritage is set to hear a case involving the President's
border wall.
The case, which is being brought by the state of California and multiple groups,
challenges the Department of Homeland Security's power to waive environmental
laws in their construction of a border wall.
District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel is scheduled to hear the case on Friday in
his San Diego courtroom.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/06/politics/gonzalo-curiel-donald-trump-border-wall/index.html
February 8: President Donald Trump’s budget
proposal to be unveiled on Monday will include a request for $3 billion as a
down payment on building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, a senior
administration official said on Thursday.
Wall funding has been caught up in a debate over how to protect young
“Dreamers,” people who were brought to the country illegally as children.
Back to top
Trump has offered to give the Dreamers protection from deportation and a pathway
to citizenship over 10 to 12 years, in exchange for $25 billion in wall funding
and tightened restrictions on legal immigration, but Democrats have balked at
the terms.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-budget-wall/trump-budget-to-include-3-billion-for-border-wall-official-idUSKBN1FT09M
February 8:
Trump budget to include $3 billion for border wall
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-budget-wall/trump-budget-to-include-3-billion-for-border-wall-official-idUSKBN1FT09M
February 8:
Environmentalists head to
court in effort to block border-wall construction
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2018/02/08/environmentalists-head-court-effort-block-border-wall-construction/316767002/
February 9:
Judge's pointed questions
leave murky the future of Trump's border wall plan
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/09/judges-pointed-questions-leave-murky-future-trumps-border-wall-plan.html
Back to top
February 9:
The federal judge whom President Trump characterized during his campaign as “a
Mexican” and therefore biased against him said he would announce a ruling next
week that could determine whether the government can proceed with its expedited
plans to build a border wall.
District Judge Gonzalo P.
Curiel is presiding over a lawsuit filed by advocacy groups and the state of
California challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s plans to bypass
standard environmental-impact studies and rapidly expand barriers along the
Mexican border.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/federal-judge-who-trump-accused-of-bias-questions-border-wall-plans/2018/02/09/b99ac778-0dbf-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html?utm_term=.18652b7bb778
February 10:
Tactical units spent
weeks trying to breach and climb Trump's border wall prototypes — and they're
nearly impossible to scale
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-border-wall-prototypes-withstood-breaching-climbing-tests-2018-2
Back to top
February 13: Not just Trump's idea: A short
history on famous walls and the environment
Not all walls have done what they were designed to do, and, most like the Great
Wall of China and Berlin Wall, have ended up as tourist attractions. Historians
and researchers advise there are lessons to be learned from every major wall
including their effects on migration, the environment and history.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/13/politics/history-of-walls/index.html
February 14:
... Trump's border
wall won't protect schools from shootings
President Donald J.
Trump spends so many of his waking hours worrying about border walls and
immigrants and chain migration, and acting as if all we have to do is secure the
southern border of this country to be the safest country on earth.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lupica-trump-border-wall-won-protect-schools-shootings-article-1.3821491
February 18:
Two Mexican
opposition candidates on Sunday vowed to take a tougher line against U.S.
President Donald Trump’s border wall, at events where they were selected by
their parties to seek the presidency in a July 1 election.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-election/mexican-opposition-candidates-slam-trump-wall-ahead-of-campaign-idUSKCN1G2061
Back to top
February 19:
Mexico Refuses to Be
'Treated Like a Doormat' Over Trump's Border Wall, Top Election Candidate
Declares
http://www.newsweek.com/mexico-wont-be-treated-doormat-trump-border-wall-mexican-presidential-811816
February 19:
Mike Pence: Trump
administration remains committed to border wall, despite lack of funding
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/feb/19/mike-pence-trump-administration-remains-committed-/
February 21:
Construction begins to replace border wall in California
The federal government began work Wednesday on replacing border wall in
California, the first wall contract awarded in the
Trump
administration outside of eight prototypes that were built last year in
San Diego.
Back to top
Customs and Border Protection is replacing a little more than
2 miles in downtown Calexico, a sliver of the president’s plan for a “big,
beautiful wall” with Mexico. A barrier built in the 1990s from recycled
metal scraps and landing mat will be torn down for bollard-style barriers that
are 30 feet high, significantly taller than existing walls.
The
administration cleared the way for construction in September by waiving
dozens of environmental and other reviews in Calexico. A 2005 law exempted it
from environmental reviews if the Homeland Security secretary deems a wall to be
in national security interests, including the National Environmental Policy Act,
Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/feb/21/border-wall-construction-begins-calexico-californi/
February 24: After testy call with Trump
over border wall, Mexican president shelves plan to visit White House
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/after-testy-call-with-trump-over-border-wall-mexicos-president-shelves-plan-to-visit-white-house/2018/02/24/c7ffe9e8-199e-11e8-8b08-027a6ccb38eb_story.html?utm_term=.ba3598e68da4
Back to top
February 24: President Donald Trump urged
the nation “to all come together” Saturday night as he discussed the Democrats'
FISA rebuttal memo, potential new gun legislation and plans for a border wall in
an exclusive interview with Fox News.
Trump ... discussed his progress with immigration legislation, saying
that although Democrats have agreed to support a wall along the U.S.-Mexico
border, he “needs more” in order to finalze a comprehensive immigration plan.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/02/24/trump-talks-dems-memo-guns-and-border-wall-in-exclusive-interview-with-fox-news.html
February 25:
President Donald Trump's border wall might not be as long as some originally
envisioned.
Trump
met with several lawmakers for a bipartisan meeting on immigration reform on
Tuesday, where he said natural barriers, like mountains, already on the border,
could make a wall there unnecessary.
"We don't need a wall where you have rivers and mountains and everything else
protecting it," the President said. "But we do need a wall for a fairly good
portion."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/09/politics/donald-trump-border-wall/index.html
Back to top
February 28:
Judge, berated by Trump, rules in favor of border wall waivers
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel dismissed arguments from
several environmental groups that alleged the Trump administration violated the
Constitution and had gone beyond its authority when the Department of
Homeland Security issued waivers to build along the southwest border.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/judge-berated-trump-rules-favor-border-wall-waivers/story?id=53427234&cid=clicksource_4380645_1_hero_headlines_bsq_hed
March 13:
Trump likens border crossers to
‘professional mountain climbers,’ bashes California during wall tour
... While touring a variety of wall options with aides and local law enforcement
officials, Trump explained that he wanted a wall with "some see-through"
capabilities, as well as tops that deter people from climbing over.
"California's sanctuary policies put the entire nation at risk," said Trump.
"They're the best friend of the criminal. That's what exactly is happening. The
criminals take refuge in these sanctuary cities."
The Trump administration has asked the House to cut grants to so-called
sanctuary cities, and made targeting those areas a policy priority.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-likens-immigrants-professional-mountain-climbers-bashes-california-during-wall-n856331
Back to top
March 13: California Attorney
General Xavier Becerra called the building of a border wall Tuesday "medieval
technology that doesn't really have a place in the 21st century."
Becerra told Dana Perino on "The Daily Briefing" that the state's Department of
Justice sued the Trump administration because it does not have the legal
authority - nor the
funding - to build such a means of preventing people from crossing borders. ...
they have the right as the federal government to enforce immigration laws. They
don't have the right to tell the state of California that it must use its law
enforcement officers - locally and at the state - to do the job for them."
He added "We're in
the public safety business, not the deportation business."
http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/03/13/california-attorney-general-xavier-becerra-trump-border-wall-medieval-technology
March 22: Funding for border
wall in spending bill divides conservatives and establishment Republicans
Trump had requested $1.6 billion in funding for the border wall, with additional
money for border technology, and appeared to have secured that in the spending
bill. But a closer look indicates that it differs from what Trump requested.
Back to top
The $1.6 billion
funding offers:
Some $251 million for 14 miles of “secondary fencing” along the southwest border
in the San Diego Sector.
It also funds $445 million for 25 miles of “primary pedestrian levee fencing”
along the southwest border in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, as well as an
additional $196 million for fencing along the same border. White House budget
director Mick Mulvaney indicated this would be an additional eight miles, less
than the 32 miles the White House requested.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/03/22/funding-for-border-wall-in-spending-bill-divides-conservatives-and-establishment-republicans.html
March 22:
What Border Agents Say They Want (It's Not a Wall) - The New York
...
President Trump has called for a wall along
the border with Mexico to stop undocumented
immigrants and drugs from entering the United States. But
Border Patrol agents on the front lines say
they need more technology and additional personnel to curb the illegal traffic
...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/us/politics/border-patrol-wall-immigration-trump-senate-democrats.html
Back to top
March 23: Trump Threatens To Veto Spending
Bill Over Border Wall Funding, Then Signs It
“I will never sign another bill like this again.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-threatens-veto-of-spending-bill-over-border-wall-funding_us_5ab4f979e4b008c9e5f676aa
March 23: US presidents have long coveted
the ability to veto parts of budgets they don’t like, but the Supreme Court
ruled in 1998 that such
authority was unconstitutional.
https://qz.com/1236387/donald-trumps-border-wall-may-never-get-built-after-he-signed-the-latest-spending-bill/
March 23: Fact check: Trump says spending
bill starts work on his border wall. It doesn't.
The money earmarked for border security can be used only to repair and build
previously approved fencing.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fact-check-trump-says-spending-bill-starts-work-his-border-n859561
Back to top
March 23: Trump may have just kissed his
best chance for a “big, beautiful” border wall goodbye
His last-minute threat to veto the bill reflects heavy pressure by the
Department of Homeland Security to get more funding for the border wall—a wall
that, depending on how Republicans do at the polls in November, may not get
funded for years, or ever.
https://qz.com/1236387/donald-trumps-border-wall-may-never-get-built-after-he-signed-the-latest-spending-bill/
March 27:
Trump suggests US military foot the bill for
border wall
It was not immediately clear how serious Trump was about pursuing this option,
but the move would likely face steep hurdles with appropriators in Congress.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/27/politics/donald-trump-border-wall-military/index.html
Back to top
April 2: [Donald
Trump on Monday, April 2nd, 2018 in a tweet] ...
Mexico has "very strong border laws -- ours are pathetic."
Donald Trump off-base in comparison of U.S., Mexico border laws
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/apr/02/donald-trump/donald-trump-base-comparison-us-mexico-border-laws/
April 3:
Trump: ‘We’re going to be
guarding our border with the military’ until wall complete
http://fox8.com/2018/04/03/trump-were-going-to-be-guarding-our-border-with-the-military-until-wall-complete/
May 5:
The President was in
the midst of criticizing Democrats during a riff about border security when he
slipped in the idea that people might "have to think about closing up the
country."
"They don't want the wall, but we're going to get the wall, even if we have to
think about closing up the country for a while," Trump said. "We're going to get
the wall. We have no choice. We have absolutely no choice. And we're going to
get tremendous security in our country."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/05/politics/donald-trump-border-wall-close-country-remark/index.html
Back to top
May 8:
Trump's wall hasn't
been built yet, but it's already cost local taxpayers millions
Eight prototypes bidding to become the model for President Donald Trump's
proposed border wall cost between $300,000 and $500,000 each to build -- with
the Department of Homeland security
footing the bill.
According to the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Sheriff's Department,
the two local agencies have been helping to provide security around the
structures. The majority of the $2.3 million was spent during the one-month
construction phase from September 26 to October 26 of 2017. During that
construction phase, 298 sheriff's deputies were provided for security duties.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/08/us/border-wall-prototypes-cost-taxpayers/
May 15:
GOP senator says US should
'confiscate' money from Mexican cartels to build border wall
“The cartels move about $110
billion a year from the United States to Mexico,” Cassidy told Breitbart. “If we
can stop that, confiscate that money, we can use cartel money to build the wall.
It won’t be the Mexican government, it’ll be the Mexican cartels [paying for the
wall], and that’s probably the better party to build it.”
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/387779-gop-senator-says-us-can-use-money-confiscated-from-mexican-cartels-to-build
Back to top
July 29: President Donald Trump threatened
to push the government into shutdown ahead of the coming appropriations deadline
in September if Congress does not fund his border wall and change the nation's
immigration laws.
"I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us
the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall! Must get rid of Lottery,
Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We
need great people coming into our Country!" Trump tweeted Sunday.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/29/politics/donald-trump-shutdown-wall/index.html
August 23: Authorities in Arizona discovered
$1 million in drugs during a traffic stop -- and officials say that led them to
a nearly 600-foot drug tunnel that runs between a former fast food restaurant
and a private home in Mexico.
The US-Mexico border above the tunnel is protected by two border fences,
according to court documents.
Back to top
"This tunnel was very well constructed and would have taken this Drug
Trafficking Organization a long time to dig and would have been very expensive,"
court documents state. "This tunnel necessarily required a combination of
several individuals on both sides of the border, engaged in an intricate, risky
transnational conspiracy to construct such a secretive structure."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/23/us/drug-tunnel-arizona-mexico-trnd/
September 7: In the battle for control of
Congress, President Donald Trump's weapon of choice is fear.
At a rally for Republican Senate nominee Matt Rosendale in Billings, Montana, on
Thursday night, the president warned his faithful that Democrats would raise
their taxes, take their guns, block his wall, abolish the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency, open U.S. borders, end Social Security and cut
Medicare.
Back to top
He's also warned supporters this summer that the outcome in November could spell
trouble for freedom of speech and religion and the First Amendment — and that if
the GOP loses, violence could follow.
The overwhelming majority of the claims are patently false, but with two months
to go — and analysts in both parties convinced that there’s a nonremote chance
Republicans could lose at least the House — Trump is in desperation mode.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/fear-loathing-trump-campaign-trail-n907521
October 8:
To attack Dems, Trump blasts immigration bill that doesn’t exist
“Every single Democrat in the U.S. Senate has signed up for the open borders –
and it’s a bill. And it’s called The Open Borders Bill. What’s going on? And
it’s written by – guess who – Dianne Feinstein.”
Back to top
There is no “Open Borders Bill.” Trump made it up. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
has a bill to prohibit family separations at the border, and the proposal enjoys
broad Democratic support, but no sane person would characterize that as an “open
borders” policy.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/attack-dems-trump-blasts-immigration-bill-doesnt-exist
October 10: House Majority Leader Kevin
McCarthy to introduce bill to fully fund Trump's border wall
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/10/politics/kevin-mccarthy-border-wall-bill/index.html
October 31: Trump triples down, now wants up
to 15,000 troops on Mexican border
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/trump-immigration-caravan-border-ryan-1.22707260
November 9:
The U.S. Government’s 2018 Border Data Clearly Shows Why the Trump
Administration is on the Wrong Track
https://www.wola.org/analysis/us-government-2018-border-data-trump-immigration-asylum-policy/
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November 28:
President Trump says
he would 'totally be willing' to shut down government over border wall
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/11/28/trump-shutdown-border-wall/2135563002/
December 11: Pelosi brings up Trump
'manhood,' says meeting with him was like 'tinkle contest' with skunk
The Democratic minority leader, who is expected to become Speaker next month,
made the comments after speaking with the president at the White House ... as
soon as she returned from the White House, Pelosi strolled into a closed-door
meeting in the Capitol basement, where fellow Democratic lawmakers were in the
process of selecting committee chairs for the new Congress, and questioned
Trump’s manhood.
“It’s like a manhood thing for him,” she said of the wall, according to an aide
who was present. “As if manhood could ever be associated with him. This wall
thing.”
She told colleagues that she was “trying to be the mom” in the room while Trump
and Schumer bickered about the funding showdown, interrupting Pelosi at times,
mansplaining at others.
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“I can’t explain it to you. It was so wild. It goes to show you: You get into a
tickle contest with a skunk, you get tinkle all over you,” she said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/pelosi-questions-trumps-manhood-after-confrontational-white-house-meeting/2018/12/11/2b2111be-fd79-11e8-862a-b6a6f3ce8199_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0db7ee49f1b3
December 11: A
scathing
report by the Office of the Inspector General revealed that a consulting
company hired by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to fill thousands of new
jobs to satisfy President Trump's mandate to secure the southern border, is
"nowhere near" completing its hiring goals and "risks wasting millions of
taxpayer dollars."
The audit found that as of Oct. 1 CBP had paid Accenture Federal Services
approximately $13.6 million of a $297 million contract to recruit and hire 7,500
applicants, including Customs and Border Protection officers, Border Patrol
agents, and Air and Marine Interdiction agents. But 10 months into the first
year of a five-year contract Accenture had only processed "two accepted job
offers," according to the report.
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Meanwhile, Henry Moak, a senior CBP official, disputed the OIG's findings in a
letter dated Nov. 28. Moak argued that Accenture has successfully "created a
hiring structure, tailored technology solutions to support and manage the hiring
process" and has "recruited thousands of new applicants." Further, Moak claimed
that the suggestion that the changes in the contract were due to a failure on
Accenture's part is "inaccurate." He said the changes were requested by CBP
"because it offered better overall efficiency in our mutual hiring activities."
Additionally, for any cutbacks in Accenture's responsibilities, the agency "made
equitable adjustments to decrease the cost-per-hire."
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/11/675923576/customs-border-and-protection-paid-a-firm-13-6-million-to-hire-recruits-it-hired
December 13: ‘Crypto
Congressman’ Floats Blockchain to Help Fund Trump’s Border Wall
Yesterday, US Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) stated in an interview with NPR that
blockchain technology could potentially be used as a means to fund the border
wall that has become little more than a political football in Congress, with
President Donald Trump recently threatening a government shutdown if
congressional Democrats fail to deliver funding for the national security
project on which he based his presidential campaign.
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Davidson and other Republicans have been investigating alternative means to fund
the wall if federal funding fails to materialize. Crowdfunding and voluntary
contributions from the citizenry are one avenue they have been thoroughly
investigating, with Davidson introducing a bill not long ago dubbed “Buy
a Brick, Build the Wall” which would enable the Treasury to accept donations
into a “Border Wall Trust Fund” account it is ordered to establish for the
funding of the border wall.
https://www.ccn.com/crypto-congressman-floats-blockchain-to-help-fund-trumps-border-wall/
December 19: Conservatives voice frustration
after Trump signals 'gutless' retreat on border wall
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/conservatives-voice-frustration-after-trump-signals-gutless-retreat-on-border-wall/ar-BBRce3A
December 22: Federal government partially
shuts down amid impasse over border wall funding
It was unclear exactly how long the shutdown — which affects thousands of
federal workers — would last, with negotiations slated to continue over the
weekend.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/federal-government-partially-shuts-down-amid-impasse-over-border-wall-n951171
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December 23:
Trump: Drones are ‘lots of fun,’ but only a ‘good old fashioned wall’ works
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/422636-trump-drones-are-lots-of-fun-but-only-a-good-old-fashioned-wall-works
December 28: Trump
threatens to seal off US-Mexico border 'entirely' if Congress does not agree
funding for a wall
Analysts have warned that closing the border would cost hundreds of millions of
dollars a day, with an estimated $558 billion in goods being transported across
the border in both directions last year.
Such a move would also cause chaos for the nearly half a million people who are
estimated to enter the US through its southern border each day.
As he doubled down yesterday, Mr Trump also reissued threats to shut off aid to
the three Central American countries from which a majority of migrants
attempting to enter the US originate.
"Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are doing nothing for the United States but
taking our money. Word is that a new Caravan is forming in Honduras and they are
doing nothing about it. We will be cutting off all aid to these 3 countries -
taking advantage of US for years!" he wrote in one of a series of tweets.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/28/trump-threatens-seal-us-mexico-border-entirely-congress-does/
-- 2019 --
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January 7:
Former President Jimmy Carter denied ever supporting President Donald Trump's
border wall, contradicting the current commander in chief's claim that previous
presidents confided they regret not building a physical barrier on the southern
border.
"I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump, and do not support
him on the issue,” Carter said in a
statement released Monday by the Carter Center.
Carter's statement joins other
denials from all other living presidents, with the exception of Barack Obama,
whose spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by POLITICO last week. But
Obama has not met with Trump since the funeral of George H.W. Bush in early
December; they had last met at Trump's 2017 inauguration. efore then.
Obama has also repeatedly lambasted Trump's border wall plans, calling them
antithetical to the country's values.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/07/carter-denies-supporting-trumps-border-wall-1085968
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January 8:
Pence Says Trump Thought Presidents on TV Were Talking Privately to Him
NBC’s Hallie Jackson asked Vice-President Mike Pence to name the former
presidents who had secretly told Trump to build the wall:
“I know the president has said that that was his impression from previous
presidents, previous administrations,” replied Pence. “I know I’ve seen clips of
previous presidents talking about the importance of border security.”
So rather than concede that Trump made up these private conversations, Pence is
saying Trump saw them say it on television, and imagined they had told him this
face-to-face. Is that actually better?
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/01/pence-trump-thought-presidents-on-tv-talking-privately-to-him.html
January 9:
President Donald Trump on Friday
declared a national emergency to gain access to roughly $8 billion to fund a
border wall.
Before Trump's announcement in the Rose Garden, a senior administration official
explained that the money will be pulled from the following areas:
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--$1.375 billion from the Homeland Security appropriations bill
--$600 million from the Treasury Department's drug forfeiture fund
--$2.5 billion from the Department of Defense's drug interdiction program
--$3.6 billion from the Department of Defense's military construction account
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/15/heres-where-the-money-for-trumps-border-wall-will-come-from.html?recirc=taboolainternal
January 22: Malaysian leader likens Israeli
athlete ban to Trump’s Mexico wall
‘We have the same idea, that people who are undesirable for our country will be
kept out of our country,’ says Mahathir Mohamad
https://www.timesofisrael.com/malaysian-leader-likens-israeli-athlete-ban-to-trumps-mexico-wall/
January 22: Trump's border wall offer looks
doomed in the Senate as 800,000 government workers face another lost paycheck
during shutdown
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/22/trump-offer-to-end-government-shutdown-build-wall-faces-senate-vote.html
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February 13: Trump
is running out of options for his border wall as Republican leaders break with
the president
That soft, shuffling sound you hear is Congressional Republicans stepping away
from President Trump.
It's hard to hear above the din from the Oval Office. But through their new
spending compromise, GOP leaders signaled clearly that they, like Congressional
Democrats, will no longer play border-wall make-believe with President Trump.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/12/republican-leaders-are-breaking-with-trump-on-border-wall.html?recirc=taboolainternal
February 15:
White House: Wall funds would be ‘back-filled’ in 2020 budget request
Trump will take money from Pentagon and Treasury that would bring total wall
funding to $8 billion
That means U.S. taxpayers would pay for every penny of the wall in fiscal 2019 —
even though Trump long promised that Mexico would pay for it.
https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/trumps-executive-order-will-tap-8-billion-in-pentagon-treasury-funds-for-wall-source-says
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February 15:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned Republicans on Thursday that a future
Democratic president could declare gun violence a national emergency.
Her comments to reporters came shortly after the White House said President
Donald Trump would declare a national emergency in order to "build the wall,
protect the border, and secure our great country."
Pelosi said she was not advocating for Democrats to declare a national emergency
but that Trump was establishing a precedent that should, at least, make
Republicans nervous.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/14/pelosi-warns-gop-that-a-democratic-president-could-declare-a-national-emergency-on-guns.html?recirc=taboolainternal
May 24:
A federal judge has temporarily blocked part of President Donald Trump’s plan to
build a wall along the southern border with money Congress never appropriated
for that purpose.
U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr., of the Northern District of California,
said those challenging Trump’s actions had a good chance of prevailing on their
claims that the administration is acting illegally in shifting money from other
programs to pay for the wall.
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With some contracts already awarded for construction,
Gilliam said that allowing work to go forward before the legal issues have been
fully resolved could cause irreparable harm.
Gilliam ruled in response to lawsuits brought by the Sierra Club and the
Southern Border Communities Coalition.
The plaintiffs sought preliminary injunctions against the administration’s
diversion of billions of dollars meant for other purposes. The plaintiffs
alleged that Trump’s actions violate the constitutional requirement that no
money may be spent without an appropriation from Congress as well as legal
restrictions on the purposes for which funds can be reallocated.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/05/24/california-judge-blocks-trump-border-wall-funding/
-- 2020 --
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