The U.S. has actively been pursuing the wall between the United States and Mexico. And, no, Mexico is not paying for it. Since the month of March, the government has filed 24 new condemnation cases to acquire private property from South Texas landowners which is more than were filed in the preceding eight months. All this despite the pandemic.
There are currently 657 miles of primary barriers and 50 miles of secondary barriers along the 2000-mile border.
Remember that the vast majority of the barriers were constructed prior to the Trump presidency.
Trump declared a state of emergency in February 2019 which was extended in February 2020, with the goal of constructing 400 miles by the end of 2020. He referred to the coronavirus as another justification for this wall, “we must understand that border security is also health security.” While Trump has built less than 200 miles of wall, his administration has brought 78 lawsuits against landowners on the border, 30 of them this year.
Recently, Trump traveled to the southern edge of Arizona to highlight completion of his 200 miles. According to the Homeland Security’s June 19, 2020 status report on the wall, only about “three miles of new border wall system [have been] constructed in locations where no barriers previously existed.” So far the Trump administration has spent $15 billion on the project. Mexico has not contributed anything. That’s a lot of money for three miles of a “big beautiful wall.”
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