Wall could cost 3 times estimates, Democrats’ report says

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s plans to build a border wall could cost more than three times as much as initial estimates, Senate Democrats said in a report released on Tuesday, adding that the administration has yet to provide Congress with evidence to show that a wall would be effective in stopping the flow of illegal immigration and drugs.

The report said the border wall could cost nearly $70 billion to build and $150 million a year to maintain. An internal report by the Department of Homeland Security said the wall could cost about $21.6 billion, not including maintenance.

The new report, which was prepared by the Democratic staff of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, also found that the construction of a wall would require taking hundreds of acres of private land at a cost of millions to taxpayers and would divert money from crucial mobile video surveillance technology.

“The staff just wanted to summarize where we are at this point, given the lack of substantive answers coming from the administration,” said Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for the Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a ranking member on the committee.

The Department of Homeland Security said it was still studying the best places to construct such barriers, and that it was premature to discuss cost estimates.

The report comes as Congress prepares to vote on a stopgap funding measure to avoid a potential government shutdown on April 28.

Republican leaders, including Speaker Paul Ryan, have said that funding for a border wall could be put off until next year, as he and other congressional leaders try to overcome both Democratic opposition to the project and Republican concerns about spending large amounts.

In his budget request to Congress, Trump asked for $1.4 billion to pay for the initial development of the wall. The Department of Homeland Security said enough funding had been moved from other programs to begin construction. The department has diverted $20 million from other programs at the agency to begin construction of border wall prototypes.

Despite the lack of dedicated funding, the Trump administration has moved forward. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the Border Patrol, said more than 230 companies had submitted proposals to build border wall prototypes.