Report: $20M DHS Has Found For Wall Not Enough To Even Start Construction

FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2016 photo, a U.S. Border Patrol agent drives near the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Sunland Park, N.M. Can Donald Trump really make good on his promise to build a wall along the 2,000-mile U.S.... FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2016 photo, a U.S. Border Patrol agent drives near the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Sunland Park, N.M. Can Donald Trump really make good on his promise to build a wall along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border to prevent illegal migration? What’s more, can he make Mexico pay for it? Sure, he can build it, but it’s not nearly as simple as he says. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras) MORE LESS
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President Donald Trump may want to use existing funds to build his U.S.-Mexico border wall, but the money the Department of Homeland Security has drummed up so far wouldn’t cover the cost of a single inch.

The DHS has so far identified only $20 million that can be re-directed towards construction of the wall, according to an internal document distributed to congressional budget staff and obtained by Reuters.

Reuters reported that these funds would only cover the cost of contracts for wall prototypes and not for the barrier itself, which DHS has estimated would cost $21.6 billion to complete.

Days after his inauguration in January, Trump signed an executive order calling for “immediate construction of a physical wall” along the border. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that “existing funds and resources” would be used to initiate building, and that Congress will be asked to provide funding for additional costs.

Trump has insisted that Mexico will reimburse the U.S. for the full cost of the wall at a later date, though Mexican leaders have said they have no intention of doing so.

Congressional Republicans including Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) have expressed concern about funding the project without offsets in spending cuts, and cautioned that a physical barrier likely won’t be able to completely deter undocumented immigrants from entering the U.S.

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