GOP Leaders Dropping Border Wall Funds

John Binder,

Federal funding for one of President Donald Trump’s premier policy proposals may be excluded from the House GOP’s budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018.

House Democrats, along with a few House Republicans, are working around-the-clock to make sure funding for the estimated $12 billion border wall is not factored into the GOP budget, according to a report by The Hill.

“With Democrats united against new wall funding, it’s unlikely the Republicans have the votes to get it through and prevent a government shutdown,” The Hill report stated.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, in a statement to The Hill, seemed to concede that border wall funding would not be included in the GOP budget, saying the funds would come at a later date.

Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) are the two Republican lawmakers teaming with Democrats to stop the funding of the border wall, despite both representing districts that share a border with Mexico.

“We recognize the need for robust border security and infrastructure to ensure public safety and increase cross border commerce,” Hurd and McSally wrote to the Trump administration in a letter, according to The Hill. “We also have an obligation to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

Establishment Republicans in the Senate, like Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), are also teaming with Democrats to stop the border wall, with McCain worrying more about the sentiment that Mexicans have towards America.

“There is a lot of anti-American sentiment in Mexico,” McCain said during a Senate hearing with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly. “If the election were tomorrow in Mexico, you’d probably have a left-wing, anti-American president in Mexico. That can’t be good for America.”

The tone is a shift from his 2010 re-election rhetoric.

Kelly, at the time, agreed with McCain, responding “It would not be good for America, or for Mexico.”

Leading immigration groups like the Federation for American Immigration (FAIR) say Trump’s border wall is a “necessity” in the fight against illegal immigration, which has poured into the U.S. for decades, as Breitbart Texas reported.

“A physical barrier on the southern border is a necessity if our government wishes to meet its obligation to protect the sovereignty and security of the United States of America,” FAIR wrote in a report. “Besides helping stem the tide of illegal immigration, it also limits the ability of drug cartels, human traffickers, terrorists and other national security threats to access the United States from Mexico and the rest of Central and South America. Furthermore, a secure border sends the message that prospective immigrants are expected to follow the rule of law.”

House Republicans like Rep. Mike Rodgers (R-AL) have been vocal in their support for Trump’s border wall, proposing legislation with other GOP lawmakers to pay for the wall by taxing illegal immigrants, as Breitbart Texas reported.

Rogers said his legislation is “simple,” saying in a statement that “anyone who sends their money to countries that benefit from our porous borders and illegal immigration should be responsible for providing some of the funds needed to complete the wall.”