Donald Trump is moving forward with a massive border wall along the southern U.S. border, signing a bill on Friday that would fund the construction of the $1.6 trillion project, with the caveat that it can only be financed with border security funding.
Trump signed the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act into law just before 1 a.m.
EST, and it now heads to Trump’s desk.
It includes provisions to fund construction of a $1 billion fence along the Mexican border, which Trump and other Republicans have vowed to build, and a $400 million border security fund that would be used to pay for border security improvements in the state of Arizona.
The bill also includes $1 million for the construction and maintenance of a fence in Texas that Trump has long championed, which would cover the entire U.T.S.-Mexico border.
The Texas border is home to a massive influx of people trying to cross into the United States illegally, and the $400m fund could help the Trump administration secure the entire border, Trump said on Twitter.
The Trump administration has been ramping up construction of its border wall as it seeks to combat a surge of illegal immigration.
The new border funding bill also seeks to fund border enforcement through grants and contracts for the Border Patrol and the National Guard.
