(The Center Square) – Republican senators riding high on President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown are continuing to push forward on other border security measures, with two lawmakers introducing separate bills to fund and finish the southern border wall.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., reintroduced last year’s WALL Act, which would allocate $25 billion to finish the stalled construction.
“The United States needs a completed border wall—it is just common sense to have a physical barrier in place to ensure only lawful entry into our country,” Britt said Thursday. “The WALL Act would ensure the completion of America’s border wall without raising taxes on U.S. citizens or increasing the national debt by a single penny.”
To accomplish this, Britt’s bill eliminates illegal immigrants’ eligibility for certain taxpayer-funded benefits, such as federal housing programs.
It would also impose fines on migrants illegally entering the country — up to $10,000 per offense — or on immigrants who overstay their visas, which Britt says will not only provide money for construction but will also help deter more crossings.
Britt was also the sponsor of the Laken Riley Act, soon to become law, which empowers law enforcement to detain criminal migrants for deportation.
One of the WALL Act’s cosponsors, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., introduced a border wall bill of his own recently.
Barrasso’s Build the Wall Act would establish a southwest wall construction fund under the Department of Homeland Security, using unspent federal aid from the coronavirus pandemic.
“Before the Biden administration’s disastrous border policies, we were well on our way to a secure and safe southern border. Now, every state is a border state and dangerous criminals and cartels are entering our communities,” Barrasso said. “This bill will allow us to use money we already have to finish the wall and protect our national security.”
Under the Biden administration, more than 14 million illegal border crossers were encountered, while nearly 15,000 migrants convicted of murder are still roaming loose in the U.S., as of July 2024.
DHS has already resumed implementing Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, with the president deploying 1,500 troops to the southwest border to aid in migrant removal efforts.