Trump Plans to Follow Through With US–Mexico Border Wall
Trump Plans to Follow Through With US–Mexico Border Wall:- On August 1, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will waive certain environmental rules to begin construction of Trump’s border wall along a 15-mile stretch of land between of San Diego, California, and Mexico. In its announcement, the department said, “The sector remains an area of high illegal entry for which there is an immediate need to improve current infrastructure and construct additional border barriers and roads.” The Washington Post noted that no formal plan is in place for the wall’s construction, and while Congress has yet to approve the House-approved budget, lawmakers are expected to do so soon.
The Post also noted that in May, the Center for Biological Diversity released a report that identified 93 species that will be put at risk if a wall is constructed. The San Diego stretch specifically will impact the livelihood of Quino checkerspot butterflies. Other animals at risk include jaguars and Mexican gray wolves.
Previously:
Building a sturdier wall between the U.S. and Mexico has been part of President Donald Trump’s agenda going all the way back to his very first speech to announce his candidacy back in summer 2015. Since actually taking office, however, he’s faced numerous challenges, like gaining support for the wall and his attempts to secure funding.
Confused as to how the events concerning Trump’s border wall promise have unfolded since his election and subsequent inauguration? Here’s what you need to know about the timeline.
Trump promised a border wall during his announcement to run for president.
June 16, 2015
In his first speech as a Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump made it clear that building a physical barrier between the U.S. and Mexico was a major priority for him. “I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall,” he bragged. He would maintain this position for the remainder of his campaign.
Politicians came out against his plans.
December 23, 2016
Early snags in Trump’s wall plans included criticism and disagreement from politicians in Texas, who refused to have Trump’s wall run through their cities and potentially ruin their local economies. U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar told The New York Times that the wall was a “14th-century solution to a 21st-century problem.”
Before taking office, Trump started floating the idea of having Congress pay for the wall.
January 6, 2017
Despite saying during his campaign that the Mexican government would be responsible for paying for the wall, Trump’s incoming administration started mentioning the idea that it may be better to use previously implemented legislation to try to fund his wall than to rely on the Mexican government, which was under no obligation to pay for the structure.
Once elected president, Trump announced his plans to follow through on his campaign promise.
January 24, 2017
In a tweet published that Tuesday evening, President Trump wrote that Wednesday would be a “big day” for national security. “Among many other things, we will build the wall!” he said of his plans to follow through with his campaign promise of dividing the United States and Mexico.
Trump was reportedly going to use law a law already in existence called the Secure Fence Act of 2006 to justify it to Congress. “It was bipartisan, it was overwhelmingly supported. That envisions both physical barriers and more of the high-tech stuff, like sensors and cameras,” Tamara Keith, NPR’s White House correspondent, said on NPR’s Morning Edition. At the time, however, Trump was still claiming that Mexico would fund the wall’s construction, despite their objections.
Trump started considering a 20% tax on Mexican imports to pay for the wall.
January 25, 2017
Shortly after Trump said it would be a “big day” for national security, then press secretary Sean Spicer announced that the Trump administration was mulling over a 20% import tax on Mexican goods coming to the U.S. to fund the wall’s construction. The idea was immediately criticized by business owners and economists, not to mention by Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto.
Secretary of Defense John Kelly announced that the wall wouldn’t stretch from coast to coast.
April 6, 2017
In early April, Kelly cleared up previous misconceptions about the length of the wall, saying that it was “unlikely” that it would stretch “from sea to shining sea.”
__ Members of a Native American tribe whose reservation falls along the dividing line between Mexico and the U.S. said they would not allow construction of wall that would divide their community.__
April 13, 2017
The Tohono O’odham tribe, whose reservation is split between the U.S. and Mexico, was gearing up to fight for their land if Trump’s border wall cut their community into two. “It could turn into [a protest like Standing Rock],” tribe member Francine Jose told Reuters. “If we’re to see bulldozers start to come in, we will not be standing alone.”
Senator Ted Cruz introduced a bill that would call for Mexican drug lord El Chapo pay for the wall.
April 26, 2017
Texas Senator Ted Cruz was completely serious when he introduced a bill called the Ensuring Lawful Collection of Hidden Assets to Provide Order (EL CHAPO) Act, in which he recommended that all funds forfeited to the U.S. government with El Chapo’s arrest be used to fund the wall. He estimated that this extra funding would amount to $14 billion.
“Fourteen billion dollars will go a long way toward building a wall that will keep Americans safe and hinder the illegal flow of drugs, weapons, and individuals across our southern border,” the senator reasoned in a press release. “Ensuring the safety and security of Texans is one of my top priorities. We must also be mindful of the impact on the federal budget. By leveraging any criminally forfeited assets of El Chapo and his ilk, we can offset the wall’s cost and make meaningful progress toward achieving President Trump’s stated border security objectives.”
But then when negotiating government funding, Congress left out funding for the border wall in order to avoid a federal shutdown.
May 1, 2017
Members of Congress agreed on legislation to help the government stay afloat through September, but funding for Trump’s border wall wasn’t on the list of nonnegotiable expenses that Democrats and Republicans agreed upon to reach that decision.
House Republicans then gave up on a border adjustment tax.
July 27, 2017
Roughly six months after Trump announced that he was considering a 20% tax on Mexican imports to pay for the border wall, Paul Ryan and Republicans in the House of Representatives decided not to move forward with the border adjustment tax proposal.
Ryan claimed the reason for abandoning it was to move forward on more pressing legislation. “While we have debated the pro-growth benefits of border adjustability, we appreciate that there are many unknowns associated with it, and have decided to set this policy aside in order to advance tax reform,” Ryan and other officials said in a statement.
On the same day, the House of Representatives approved $1.6 billion for the construction of Donald Trump’s border wall, which was part of a larger $788 billion spending bill. The bill requires 60 votes to pass in the Senate. The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, announced that Democrats will fight the border wall’s construction and funding in negotiations.
Additionally, none of the funds that the House included came from the Mexican government, as Trump previously claimed they would.
Source:- http://www.teenvogue.com/story/trump-plans-to-follow-through-with-mexico-border-wall
