Truthdig
Who Will Build Trump's Border Wall?
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/who_will_build_trumps_billion-do
llar_border_wall_20170317/
Posted on Mar 17, 2017
By Emma Niles
The U.S.-Mexico border in Sasabe, Ariz. (Phillip Capper / CC 2.0
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/flissphil/5883071) )
The release of President Trump's budget proposal
(https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/15/us/politics/trump-budget-pro
posal.html) earlier this week has drawn criticism across the political
spectrum
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/capitol-hill-republicans-not-on-bo
ard-with-trump-budget/2017/03/16/9952d63e-0a6b-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.
html?utm_term=.aea10c9b63b1) for a variety of reasons, and many of them
focused on potential massive cuts
(http://www.npr.org/2017/03/17/520467050/advocates-say-trump-budget-cuts-wil
l-hurt-countrys-most-vulnerable) to federal agencies.
What's not getting a budget cut, however, is the president's controversial
wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Politico reports
(http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-border-wall-budget-236107) :
Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget,
said the president would request $1.5 billion in a supplemental spending
bill and $2.6 billion in his fiscal year 2018 budget. The combined $4.1
billion in spending is considerably greater than previous estimates on a
down payment for the wall, but well short of its estimated total cost of $22
billion. .
"We wrote it using the president's own words," he said during a call with
reporters. "We went through his speeches, we went through articles that have
been written about his policies ... and we turned those policies into
numbers."
Trump spoke about the wall
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/trump-says-proposed-border-wa
ll-is-way-ahead-of-schedule/2017/03/15/deb6cd34-09df-11e7-bd19-fd3afa0f7e2a_
video.html) during a rally in Nashville, Tenn., telling his audience that
its construction is "way ahead of schedule."
This "schedule" has not been made public, leaving many observers wondering
who will build the wall and how soon construction actually will begin.
The construction itself may be laced with irony: Quartz reports
(https://qz.com/934428/who-is-paying-for-donald-trumps-border-wall-with-mexi
co/) that Mexicans and Mexican-Americans "will be vying for a piece of that
business."
"Of the roughly 700 firms that have already expressed interest in bidding to
build the prototypes, about 10% are Hispanic-owned, per data from the
government's procurement system," Quartz states. "Hispanics also make up
nearly 30% of the US's construction workforce, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. Near the border (where most US Hispanics are of Mexican
descent), they're an even larger share."
Trump is facing increasing resistance from Republicans in Congress regarding
payment for the wall. According to The Washington Post
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/republicans-skeptical-about-paying
-for-wall-as-trump-prepares-to-release-budget/2017/03/15/dd2b5848-099b-11e7-
b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.html?utm_term=.51b8bac9e8ba) :
Key GOP senators expressed concerns this week about who would foot the bill
for the wall, with some bluntly voicing doubts that Mexico will cover it, as
Trump has vowed. Even among those open to the idea of a wall, many spoke
about it in less than enthusiastic tones.
"I don't care at all as long as Mexico's paying for it - it's neither here
nor there for me," said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), whose state has a nearly
400-mile border with Mexico. "But if we're paying for it, it's a significant
concern."
While Washington politicians discuss the long-term construction project,
Mexican and American businesses are suffering from Trump's pro-wall
rhetoric.
"Basically, we are going to see another recession," a shop owner in San
Diego told Al-Jazeera
(http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/02/paying-donald-trump-borde
r-wall-170221095041473.html) . "I don't even check my books. There's no
point getting more depressed."
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