Statement of Chairman Leahy On Reevaluating Trump’s Border Wall
The previous Administration’s taxpayer funded vanity wall along the Southern Border was never a real solution to addressing the challenge of immigration in our country. It was a slogan made for a bumper sticker – not an effective national policy. A wall, no matter how high or secure, will not deter families and children who are turning themselves in at the border in an effort to flee violence, chaos, and poverty in their home countries.
Congress was clear that the funding appropriated for CBP construction would only be available for five years. As stewards of the taxpayers’ money, it is both legal and prudent to put construction on hold to evaluate whether or not the Trump Administration’s use of these funds was efficient or effective. I think it is clear from our current situation that it was neither, and previous reporting shows that President Trump’s approach to addressing this challenge was often inhumane and shameful.
As the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and a senior member on the Judiciary Committee, I look forward to working with President Biden on real solutions to this challenge.
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