Funding for border wall is a harmful waste of money

Trump and Republicans in the House are using unprecedented legislative gimmicks to fund a wall

Contacts

Raul Garcia, Earthjustice Legislative Counsel, (202) 797-5251

Today, lawmakers in Congress voted to include $1.6 billion in the Fiscal Year 2018 Security ‘Minibus,’ H.R. 3219, to expand a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border.

The construction of a border wall imposes environmental costs and natural disaster, threatens border communities, harms native wildlife and wastes tens of billions of taxpayer dollars. Maintenance aside, the wall would cost U.S. taxpayers more than enough to pay the schooling of all U.S. kids in border counties for two years. In addition to wasting taxpayer dollars, including funding for the border wall in this legislative package undermines a fair and transparent legislative process.

The following statement is from Raul Garcia, Earthjustice Legislative Counsel:

“In one of the most backhanded gimmicks we’ve seen, House Republican leadership blindsided the American taxpayer by including more than a billion dollars to begin funding a costly border wall through a bill that has nothing to do with border security. Too afraid to cast a clear vote on a useless wall, Republican leadership is circumventing the transparency of the normal legislative process to give a desperate White House a political win. As part of a large coalition, we will continue to fight those who play politics at the expense of border communities and the environment they depend on.”

In Washington, D.C.

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