The omnibus spending bill passed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate specifically bans President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from building new border walls and fencing with the prototype designs the president most recently visited.
This month, Trump toured border wall prototypes that his administration is looking to use to seal the U.S.-Mexico southern border.
While visiting the border wall prototypes in San Diego, California, Trump criticized the current fencing barriers on the border, noting that they are easily cut through by human smugglers and illegal aliens.
“You have hundreds of holes cut in, and patched,” Trump said, referring to the current fencing on the southern border.
The omnibus spending bill bans Trump from using any of the new border wall designs his administration has commissioned, instead only allowing for previously-used fencing barriers to be constructed.
US President Donald Trump inspects border wall prototypes in San Diego, California on March 13, 2018.
President Donald Trump speaks during a tour as he reviews border wall prototypes, Tuesday, March 13, 2018, in San Diego, as Rodney Scott, the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector chief, listens at right.
US President Donald Trump is shown border wall prototypes in San Diego, California on March 13, 2018.
The spending bill includes allowing existing fencing to be used for:
- 14 miles on the southwest border in the San Diego Sector.
- 25 miles along the southwest border in…