The cost of building the proposed border wall between Mexico and the U.S. has been a contentious issue, with President Donald Trump claiming it will cost $12 billion to $15 billion and Democrats claiming it will cost much more, $70 billion or even $200 billion.

The Trump administration has decided to ask Congress for $18 billion to begin construction on the wall, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Trump said he would make Mexico pay for the wall. But Mexican officials have repeatedly said they won’t do so — and if they did, it would not be a one-time payment but rather an ongoing expense paid by U.S. consumers through higher costs of imported goods from Mexico.

The Trump Administration has requested $5.7 billion for the wall in its 2020 budget. The money would pay for about 661 miles of new barriers along the border, including 316 miles of new barriers and 407 miles of replacement barriers.

The House Appropriations Committee approved a bill last week that would provide $5 billion for the wall, with some Democrats voting against it because they said it was not enough funding.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill earlier this month that includes $1 billion for 65 miles of new fencing and levees and other infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.

In December, Trump agreed to postpone a fight over funding for his long-promised border wall until September 2020, after he declared a national emergency in order to shift billions of dollars from other programs into construction costs.

Cost to build mexico wall

Building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is projected to cost $5 billion to $25 billion, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report.

The U.S.-Mexico border is 1,933 miles long, and more than half of it already has some form of fencing or barrier. The new wall would be built in places where there are gaps and where terrain makes it easiest to build, such as around mountains and other areas where it would be difficult to dig trenches or lay concrete slabs.

The cost estimate is based on what it would take to build a wall along the entire southern border — not just in high-traffic areas — and includes labor, materials and equipment needed to construct barriers and roads for access points along the border. It does not include maintenance costs or potential lawsuits from landowners whose property is seized through eminent domain or those who challenge the construction based on environmental concerns or other reasons.

Supporters say a border wall will help stem illegal immigration, drug trafficking and terrorism by keeping people out of the country illegally, but critics say that argument doesn’t hold up against facts: Most undocumented immigrants come here legally with visas but stay past their expiration date; most drugs enter

The cost to build the border wall has been estimated at $25 billion to $75 billion. If the wall is built, it will reduce illegal crossings by an estimated 90 percent, saving the U.S. government $64 billion over ten years. These savings come from fewer people entering the country illegally and less crime committed by those already in the U.S., along with other benefits like jobs and wages for Americans.

The wall will also protect our national security by preventing terrorists from entering our country through Mexico.

The United States-Mexico border has become a flashpoint for political controversy. In response to this, the Trump administration has instituted a ban on immigrants from Muslim countries and proposed building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in order to stem illegal immigration into the U.S.

The price tag for building the wall is estimated at $21 billion, which would not include maintenance costs over its expected lifespan of 50 years. The cost of hiring thousands of people to build it could also be as high as $50 billion, according to some estimates.

If built, it would be one of the largest construction projects in American history. It would also cause many environmental impacts on its own right because it would require moving tons of earth and rock through massive machinery that would tear up the landscape around the borderlands between Mexico and the United States.

A wall along this part of the border would also create a “moat” around Mexico that could pollute water resources in both countries if not properly maintained or cleaned up after construction is complete.

The Trump administration is pushing forward with plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but it may not cost as much as you think.

The White House has said the wall will cost $5 billion to $8 billion. Other estimates have put the price tag at $20 billion or more. But if the federal government just built a fence on one-third of the roughly 2,000-mile border, it could cost just $7 billion, according to an analysis by the research firm Bernstein Research.

The Bernstein analysts looked at how much it would cost to build a barrier along only 1,500 miles of the border — or about two-thirds of what President Donald J. Trump wants — and found that it would take between $3 and $5 billion to do so. This is based on estimates from other analysts who looked at building fences in urban areas like San Diego and El Paso, Texas, where there are fewer natural barriers like rivers or mountains that would make construction easier than in other places along the border.

Bernstein Research also looked at costs for building fences in Israel and Africa (in Rwanda) and concluded that it costs about $2 million per mile for a fence along flat land with no obstacles — essentially

The cost of building President Donald Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is uncertain, but a new report from Senate Democrats says it could cost nearly $70 billion to build and maintain for just three years.

The total price tag for the wall would be about $66.9 billion, according to an analysis released Tuesday by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s subcommittee on contracting oversight.

McCaskill’s office has been examining how much money has been spent on border security over the past two decades and how much it would cost to build a wall along 700 miles of border between the United States and Mexico. The administration wants to extend the barrier along another 300 miles of land that already has some kind of barrier in place now, according to McCaskill’s office.

The administration has not yet asked Congress for funding specifically for constructing new sections of border wall; it has requested money for other forms of border security including more personnel and technology upgrades instead.

Border wall benefits

The cost to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall is estimated at $5.7 billion, according to a Department of Homeland Security report published in February 2019.

The report estimates the cost of building 654 miles of fencing along the border, which would include 316 miles of levee walls, 350 miles of reinforced concrete pedestrian fencing and 14 miles of new bollard wall.

The total cost includes $784 million for acquisition and deployment; $1.2 billion for design and construction; $1.6 billion for operations and maintenance; $221 million for planning and design; and $251 million for contingency funding.

The report indicates that the DHS plans to rely on existing funding sources to pay for construction, but it also includes a contingency fund should Congress authorize additional appropriations.

President Trump has said he wants to see around $8 billion spent on building the wall as part of a broader immigration reform package that includes increased enforcement personnel and resources at ports of entry as well as changes in asylum laws designed to discourage migrants from making false claims about credible fear so they can stay in the country while their cases are adjudicated by immigration judges instead of being deported immediately upon apprehension by officials at

The government shutdown has been a political battle between Democrats and Republicans over President Trump’s proposed border wall.

Trump has repeatedly demanded that Congress approve funding for his proposed wall, which he says would help curb illegal immigration. But Democrats have refused, arguing it will be ineffective and expensive.

What is the border wall?

The president’s proposal for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was a cornerstone of his 2016 campaign, but it has been controversial even among Republicans in Congress who were concerned about its impact on immigration reform talks and other issues like drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Trump has said he wants a “real” wall made of “hardened concrete,” not just an extension of existing fencing made from steel slats or other materials that can be cut through or climbed over easily. His administration has also floated some alternative designs for the barrier, including one that would cost $5 billion instead of $25 billion — but include natural barriers such as rivers and mountains along much of its length rather than one continuous structure — in order to get around environmental regulations that might make actual construction difficult or expensive.

What are its benefits?

The U.S.-Mexico border is already secured by a series of fences and walls. But President Trump has promised to build a new, “big and beautiful” wall — and he wants Mexico to foot the bill.

The idea of building a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border was a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign for president. He made it clear that he would make Mexico pay for it, too, by threatening import taxes on goods from Mexico unless it agreed to cough up the cash.

“I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively,” Trump said during his campaign announcement speech in June 2015 in New York City. “I will build a great big beautiful safe zone [for refugees] right on the southern border.”

Trump’s plan to build a “great big beautiful safe zone” on the southern border was part of his campaign platform that included promises such as:

●Ending birthright citizenship (which grants citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil) with an executive order;

●Banning Muslims from entering the country (later amended to include all immigrants

The wall, which was a signature promise of Trump’s campaign, has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate and helped spark a budget fight that led to a five-week partial government shutdown.

The president has insisted that Mexico would pay for the wall’s construction. But Democrats have rejected Trump’s demands to fund his border wall, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling it “immoral.”

In his State of the Union speech on February 5, Trump said that he was considering declaring a national emergency over his promised wall along the US-Mexico border and using executive powers to get it built without Congressional approval.

The cost and length of time it would take to complete such a project have been hotly debated by analysts and politicians on both sides of the aisle.

A report from The Washington Post said the administration estimated that building the barrier would cost $5 billion over two years and take up to three years — doubling earlier estimates made by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The wall was a central promise of Trump’s presidential campaign. He had said it would be paid for by Mexico, but Mexico has rejected that idea. The president told reporters he believed the wall would cost $18 billion to $19 billion.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been tasked with putting together a plan for the wall and is expected to make its recommendations by mid-February. Trump has said building the wall will begin in months.

The president said he believes there are ways to pay for the wall that don’t involve taxpayer money — such as a tax on remittances — but has not provided details of how that might work or whether it would be legal under U.S. law or international agreements.