The funding bill for the US is about to be approved by Congress, and recent reports now show that the bill may slow down the building of the proposed US-Mexican border wall.
Last year, President Donald Trump made a lot of campaign promises to his supporters. Among them was one that stated that his administration would build a wall between the US and Mexico to prevent the immigration of Mexicans into the country through the region. This promise may need a lot before it can be lived up to.
On Monday, reports in the media speculated that President Trump was relenting on his stance to actualize the construction of the wall. The president refuted that claim on his Twitter page on Tuesday, where he stated that he ‘had not changed his stance on the matter’ contrary to what the ‘fake media’ reported. The initial reports were that POTUS would delay the building until the fall of 2018, after rising tensions in the Congress as a result of the proposal in the bill stating that the US would fund part of that construction.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Mitchel backed Mr. Trump’s assertion that the wall would be put up. On the other hand, Democrat leader Chuck Schumer said that the bill, which was scheduled to be heard on Friday, would go on as planned. Schumer expressed the sentiment that it was unlikely that the bill would encompass the funding for the wall’s construction. The controversy surrounding this issue has threatened to create a stalemate in the House on Tuesday.
Even with President’s Trump endorsement, however, the US-Mexican wall is surrounded by uncertainty. Legal Counsel for the White House Kelly Conway issued a statement saying that even if the wall is not funded this week, it remains a ‘priority for this administration.’ Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who has been a staunch supporter for Mr. Trump, remarked that the wall, when built, would not cover the entire borderline. “The wall will be supplemented with surveillance and fencing along the border,” Conway added.
Conway reiterated that the security of the southern regions of the US, which was the reason for building for constructing the wall, would still be ensured even with a partial barrier. President Trump commented in his Tuesday tweet that the partitioning of the two countries would prevent the illegal entry of people through the border. It would also help in curbing drug and human trafficking as well as gang-related violence along the border, the president inserted.
The proposed wall between the two nations has sparked outrage on the side of the Mexicans. As Americans debated on whether or not to fund its construction, Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Vidgaray expressed his country’s stance on the matter. He stated that if the US proceeded to raise a barrier between the two nations, Mexico would consider it ‘a hostile act.’ Vidgaray said that Mexico was prepared to retaliate against the US should it come to that.
