tags: America’s Voice Research on Immigration Reform, Press Releases

The Most Costly Mile Ever Built: Trump Has Only Constructed One Mile of New Border Wall?

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An article in the outlet American Independent, “Trump has built just 1 mile of new border wall since taking office,” lifts up a key detail from a recent CBP/US Army Corps of Engineers joint fact sheet on the status and statistics surrounding border wall construction – namely, that “99.2% of the wall built by the Trump administration is replacement of previous structures,” as the American Independent notes. 

The government fact sheet states:

As of January 24, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has 655 miles of primary barriers on the southwest border, including approximately 301 miles of pedestrian fencing and approximately 254 miles of vehicle barrier constructed prior to January 2017, as well as approximately 99 miles of new border wall system constructed in place of dilapidated and/or outdated designs and approximately 1 mile of new border wall system constructed in locations where no barriers previously existed. An additional 10 miles of new secondary border wall system have also been built since January 2017, bringing the total constructed to 110 miles.

According to Douglas Rivlin, Director of Communication for America’s Voice:

This has got to be the most costly mile ever built. 

Trump’s unpopular border wall obsession is costing American taxpayers billions and comes at a cost to our country’s reputation, the separation of powers, the rights of private landowners, the welfare of border communities, sacred Native American land, delicate environmental treasures and basic common sense. The fact that Trump has only constructed one new mile of the wall is certainly a driver of his ongoing fears about his central campaign promise and his obsession over the wall. With election day looming, this helps explain why the President is going the extra mile, so to speak, to raid billions more from the military and to waive federal contracting laws so that his friends and allies get paid to help him deliver for his rally-going ‘build the wall’ crowd.

If Trump is that his supporters will view only 1-mile of new wall construction as a failure, just wait until they hear about Mexico not paying for it.