Donald Trump’s promise to force Mexico to pay for a wall along the border with the U.S. is a bolder one than the Republican presidential candidate has let on.
A spokesman for Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto this week denied that Mexico would pay for such a project. “It reflects an enormous ignorance for what Mexico represents, and also the irresponsibility of the candidate who’s saying it,” the representative told Bloomberg News.
The cost would be far more than Trump has suggested: A 2013 Bloomberg analysis placed the cost of completely sealing the border at $28 billion a year.
Bloomberg also reported that the U.S. doesn’t have as much leverage with Mexico as Trump, who currently leads polls for the GOP nomination, has suggested. While Trump has claimed that the U.S. sends Mexico “tens of billions” in aid each year, the reality is that aid has averaged less than a quarter of a billion dollars in recent years.
Trump has made appeals to voter concerns about illegal immigration and the southern border a key part of his campaign. In June, he courted controversy at his campaign launch by claiming that Mexico was sending criminals and rapists into the U.S.
The billionaire businessman and reality TV star said Saturday at an appearance at the Iowa State Fair that he would be releasing a policy paper on immigration on Sunday.
In his comments, Trump again boasted about his plans for a wall on the border, although he did not say that Mexico would pay for it.
“We’re building a wall. It’s gonna be a wall that is not — nobody’s going through my wall. Trump builds walls, I build walls,” he said. “We’re building a wall; it’s gonna be strong, it’s gonna be solid, it’s gonna be policed.”
He added that “we’re going to have a big, beautiful door for people to come in legally. I want people to come into the country, but they have to come in legally. So you’ll be very happy with me.”
