House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday refused to budge on President Trump’s demand for a border wall, but she did say she supports more funding for official ports of entry to stop drugs from entering the U.S.
“I’m not for a wall,” Pelosi told reporters who asked her whether she is willing to seek a compromise. She spoke near the end of the fourth week of the partial government shutdown that began after Democrats refused to fund Trump’s border wall, and Trump said he wouldn’t sign any spending bills for the government without wall money.
[Read more: Trump blames Democrats for shutdown, Americans blame Trump]
It’s not immediately clear that Pelosi’s call for funding to “build the infrastructure at the ports of entry” would persuade Trump, who has said the U.S. now needs to focus on open stretches along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Pelosi said at least a half-billion dollars should be dedicated to expanding security at ports of entry with people and technology that can scan vehicles entering the United States for drugs and guns. Only a small fraction get scrutiny currently, and most of the illegal drugs and some asylum seekers enter the U.S. through these formal points of entry.
Pelosi also called for more roads and personnel to facilitate trade and immigration and to boost border security “and to do so in a way that honors our values.”
Democrats have been negotiating with the president, she said, and have offered these border security provisions as a counteroffer to Trump’s wall.
“This has to be evidence-based,” Pelosi said of the effort to shore up border security. “Not notion-mongered.”
Trump is seeking up to $5 billion for a border wall in targeted areas along the border where U.S. border officials said it would help them reduce the flow of illegal immigrants.
