The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday says $1.6 billion will be allocated to start construction of a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that was heavily touted by President Donald Trump during the run-up to last year’s presidential election.
The funds were detailed in a bill. In all, the bill allocates $13.8 billion to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which includes the $1.6 billion to build the wall, The Hill reported.
“I am willing to do whatever it takes in the Senate to ensure President Trump’s promise to the American people is kept,” said Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), a Freedom Caucus member, reported Politico. He wants to build the wall.
“I'll aggressively oppose every single spending bill that doesn’t fund the border wall and expose every Republican establishment Senator who sides with the Democrats against our President,” Brooks added.
The bill is slated to face opposition from Democrats once it reaches the Senate.
The GOP bill is also calling on adding dozens of new jurisdictions to allow local police and sheriff’s deputies to be trained in enforcing federal immigration laws.
“Keeping Americans safe by protecting our homeland is a top priority,” said Rep. John Carter, Texas Republican, told the Washington Times. “This funding bill provides the resources to begin building a wall along our southern border, enhance our existing border security infrastructure, hire more border patrol agents, and fund detention operations.”
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