The cost of building a wall on the Mexican border is much higher than the Trump administration has claimed, according to an internal Customs and Border Protection report obtained by The Associated Press.
The report said that under a “limited” scenario in which only certain types of walls were built, the total cost over three years for construction, maintenance and labor would be $21.6 billion, compared with the $12 billion figure cited by President Donald Trump.
The estimate was based on a 1,000-mile concrete wall, much more expensive than the bollard-style fencing used in parts of California and Texas. The report also said that if more sections were built to handle higher traffic volumes and harsher weather conditions, it could cost as much as $40 billion over three years.
The report contradicts statements made by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen last week when she told Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier that “the wall will pay for itself many times over.” That assertion drew skepticism from Democrats who said there is no evidence to support it.
Cost to build a wall on mexican border
The border between the United States and Mexico is approximately 1,989 miles long.
The average length of a wall is about 30 feet. That would mean that to build a wall along the entire border, it would take about 729 million cubic feet of concrete and 1.4 billion pounds of steel.
According to a report from CBS News in November 2016, President Trump’s wall will cost $21.6 billion. The report said that the Department of Homeland Security estimated that the total cost could be as high as $38 billion. If Congress authorizes money for the wall, it would almost certainly require U.S. taxpayers to spend billions more than that — possibly tens of billions more — in coming years on maintenance, personnel and equipment for new barriers along the border with Mexico and elsewhere around the world.
A report published by Reveal News in April 2017 suggested that there are already 700 miles of walls along the southern border with Mexico and 115 more miles under construction or planned. The report also noted that President Trump wants another 1,300 miles of his border wall built before 2020 — at an estimated cost of $8 billion — but has not yet approved funding for any additional sections beyond what’s already being built
The US-Mexico border is 1,933 miles long. The estimated cost of the wall varies widely, from $5 billion to $70 billion or more.
The Department of Homeland Security has estimated a price tag of $18 billion over 10 years for the first phase of the wall. That includes 316 miles of new fencing and 407 miles of replacement fencing along the southern border.
A report released in February by Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee put the cost at $66.9 billion for 722 miles of fencing and other barriers. The report said that figure did not include maintenance costs or “other significant costs associated with construction.”
According to a 2017 report by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, there are currently 650 miles of pedestrian fencing and 300 miles of vehicle barriers along the border. The agency says it needs more barriers because they help deter illegal crossings and make it easier to catch people who manage to cross illegally into the United States.
The U.S.-Mexico border is 2,000 miles long and runs roughly from San Diego, California to Brownsville, Texas. The U.S. Border Patrol has jurisdiction over nearly half of it — 1,254 miles.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says that the wall will cover 1,000 miles of the border, which would leave another 254 miles without a wall or fencing. In addition to building walls along the entire southern border, President Donald Trump’s executive order calls for “immediate construction” of a wall in three segments:
In San Diego on the Pacific Ocean – currently a fence is in place here but it’s not considered impassable;
Along a 10-mile stretch of land near El Paso, Texas; and
In Yuma County, Arizona, where there is no barrier at all
The U.S.-Mexico border is 1,989 miles long. The wall would cover about half of that distance, though it’s unclear how much of the total length would be a continuous barrier.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that it would cost $22 billion to build a wall and $5 billion more for maintenance over 10 years. The agency said it planned to start construction in September 2019 with funding from the fiscal 2020 budget request.
The White House did not respond to our questions about the cost of building and maintaining the wall or whether Trump intends to ask Congress for additional funding for it beyond $5 billion in fiscal 2020.
The U.S.-Mexico border runs for almost 2,000 miles, longer than the distance between New York and Seattle.
The wall would have to be built along the entire length of the border, which includes mountains, deserts and rivers. The project could cost as much as $25 billion, according to estimates by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has said he doesn’t expect a wall to be built soon.
But Trump’s administration has not released any plans for how it intends to build the wall or how much it would cost. A request for proposals from companies interested in building prototypes was issued Friday afternoon.
The president has repeatedly said Mexico would pay for the wall as part of a new trade deal being negotiated with its government — something Mexican officials have denied.
The cost of building a 2,000-mile barrier would be significant — tens of billions of dollars over several years. And if the administration wants it to be effective at keeping people out, it would need sensors and other technology that could add substantially to that price tag.