Secretary of Defense Mark Esper informed Congress on Tuesday he authorized $3.6 billion to be reallocated from military construction projects to be used to build more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Based on analysis and advice from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and input from the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of the Interior and pursuant to the authority granted to me in Section 2808, I have determined that 11 military construction projects, along the international border with Mexico, with an estimated total cost of $3.6 billion, are necessary to support the use of the armed forces in connection with the national emergency,” Esper wrote in a letter addressed to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. James Inhofe.
“These projects will deter illegal entry, increase the vanishing time of those illegally crossing the border, and channel migrants to ports of entry,” he said.
Esper said the construction of the walls will allow Defense Department personnel to be redeployed to areas where more assistance is needed.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Esper for authorizing the military funds to be used for President Trump’s “misguided border wall.”
It is a slap in the face to the members of the Armed Forces who serve our country that @realDonaldTrump is willing to cannibalize already allocated military funding to boost his own ego, and for a wall he promised Mexico would pay to build. https://t.co/sv2ys87bw1
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 3, 2019
Fox News reported the new construction funds will be used for 175 miles of a border wall. Walls and fencing cover about 654 miles of the 2,000-mile border.
