100 Miles Of Border Wall Completed, Trump To Add $7.2 Billion More In Funding

Fox News has more to say on the huge milestone:

The Trump administration on Friday marked the 100th mile of wall construction along the southern border -- describing it as a “milestone achievement” and promising that there are many more miles to come by the end of the year.

“Today is a milestone that has been reached and a celebration is in order,” Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in front of wall in Yuma, Arizona. “Today I am proud to report that the Trump administration has constructed 100 miles of border wall system along the southern border.”

“This is a milestone achievement for the president, for the department and more importantly for our country -- including communities like Yuma,” he said.

The wall was a central campaign promise of President Trump’s 2016 bid, and he will be keen to show the electorate that he has delivered on that promise. The administration has pledged to build 450 miles by the end of 2020. Wolf told reporters that he was still confident that that promise would be fulfilled, even despite a series of congressional and legal hurdles the administration has been forced to overcome.

“The 100 miles we celebrate today are only the first of many more miles to come,” he said.

The administration has been plagued by battles for funding, both in Congress and in the courts. But it secured a major win this week when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals removed an injunction that blocked the use of $3.6 billion in military funds.

“Entire wall is under construction or getting ready to start,” Trump tweeted Thursday.

The administration has also pushed back against critics, who note that the majority of the wall being built is replacing structures that were already in place. The administration has said that “new linear miles” takes longer to construct as it often requires the purchasing of private land.

The Hill also said:

Trump administration officials will announce Friday that they have completed construction on 100 miles of new barriers along the southern border with Mexico. 

Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf will announce the completed construction in Yuma, Ariz., The Washington Post reported. He will be joined by senior border officials and Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.).  

The announcement will come just days after a federal appeals court in New Orleans lifted an injunction from a lower court that had blocked the Trump administration from using military funds to help build the border wall. 

The Wednesday decision will allow the White House to access $3.6 billion for the wall, a key campaign promise from the president’s 2016 election and a centerpiece of his 2020 campaign. 

A district court judge ruled last month that the administration could not spend money allocated by lawmakers for a different purpose. But the appeals court found that the money, approximately one-third of the $11 billion allotted so far for the wall, according to the Post, could be used while legal challenges continue to make their way through federal courts.

Trump celebrated the decision in a tweet, sharing “Breaking News: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals just reversed a lower court decision & gave us the go ahead to build one of the largest sections of the desperately needed Southern Border Wall, Four Billion Dollars. Entire Wall is under construction or getting ready to start!"  

On the matter of Trump diverting billions more in funding to border wall construction, The Hill detailed:

President Trump plans to divert $7.2 billion from the Pentagon to go toward border wall construction this year, an amount five times greater than what Congress authorized in the budget, The Washington Post reported.

This would be the second year in a row that money is redirected to the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border from military construction projects and counternarcotics funding.

The administration will take $3.5 billion from counterdrug programs and $3.7 billion from military construction funding, according to internal planning figures obtained by the Post, compared to $2.5 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively, last year. 

The Defense Department told The Hill that it deferred to the White House to comment. The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

A total of $18.4 billion in federal funds has gone to the border wall during Trump’s presidency. The plans indicate that this new boost of funding would allow the administration to build about 885 miles of new fencing by spring of 2022, more than the 509 miles planned for the border, according to the Post.

So far, the administration has finished 101 miles of new barriers as the end of 2020 deadline by which the president promised 450 miles of new border wall approaches.