Q&A of the Day – The Status of The Border Wall Entering Trump’s Second Term
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.
Today’s Entry: Brian, it’s great to hear that Trump already has a comprehensive border plan he’s ready to act on Day 1. One question I have is about the wall. I know the plan is to finish building it but where does it currently stand? All I remember hearing was that Biden stopped everything that was being built. Thank you.
Bottom Line: On the one hand there might not be a single major policy position of a major party candidate that’s clearer or more widely understood than former President Donald Trump’s border policy/plan. After all it was the central theme of his successful 2016 presidential campaign and focus until the very end of his presidency. In fact, here’s a bit of presidential trivia for you, Donald Trump’s last official trip as President of the United States was to visit the southern border to view the construction of the southern border wall which took place during his presidency.
In addition to the construction of the southern border wall President Trump’s border policy included the implementation of the “Remain in Mexico” policy. This policy ended the abuse of the US asylum system by mandating that those seeking to enter the U.S. would have to wait in Mexico for an asylum hearing to determine whether they were legitimate asylum seekers, as opposed to coming into the United States and being relocated into the interior while they await court dates.
Of course, both of those policies, the constructing of the southern border wall and remain in Mexico policy, were immediately ended by President Biden. The ending of the remain in Mexico policy and abuse of the asylum system accounted for 80% of the illegal immigration crisis within the first three years of the Biden Administration. Therefore, simply reinstituting the policies he had in place when he left office will immediately fix most of the border/illegal immigration crisis. But he doesn’t intend to just address most of it. He intends on addressing and fixing the problem entirely.
Yesterday I brought you the very detailed border plan President-elect Trump is set to carry out starting with his first day in office. Out of 21 specific directives, restarting construction of the border wall is only one of them. Nevertheless, it is an important piece of the longer-term solution. Here’s a look at what was accomplished with the building of a southern border wall during his administration.
- 458 miles of total constructed border wall
- 372 miles replaced and/or expanded previously existing border barriers
- 88 miles was newly expanded southern border protection
- 54% of our Southern border with Mexico containing some form of barrier – up from 34% pre-Trump
While the construction/reconstruction of 458 miles of southern border wall was no small feat within four years, the number would have been significantly higher had it not been for a series of legal challenges against the construction/expansion of the wall, ultimately won by the Trump administration. When President Biden came into power the border wall was being built at an average of ten new miles per week. According to my estimates, there are approximately 897 miles of southern border that lack either a natural barrier or a wall.
If the Trump administration were able to recommence construction at the same rate as four years ago, the southern border wall could be completed during the fourth quarter of 2026. The key, just as it was during Trump’s first term, will be for funds to be allocated for the construction of the wall. Trump had previously used money allocated for the Department of Defense for this project.