WASHINGTON, March 26, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Acting Pentagon chief Patrick
Shanahan said Monday he had authorized $1 billion to build part of the wall
sought by President Donald Trump along the US-Mexico border.
The Department of Homeland Security asked the Pentagon to build 57 miles
(92 kilometers) of 18-foot (5.5-meter) fencing, build and improve roads, and
install lighting to support Trump’s emergency declaration as concerns the
border.
Shanahan “authorized the commander of the US Army Corps of Engineers to
begin planning and executing up to $1 billion in support to the Department of
Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol,” a Pentagon statement read.
The acting defense secretary defended the move by citing a federal law that
he said “gives the Department of Defense the authority to construct roads and
fences and to install lighting to block drug-smuggling corridors across
international boundaries of the United States in support of counter-narcotic
activities of federal law enforcement agencies.”
The statement was released just hours before Shanahan was due to testify in
Congress to present and defend the Pentagon’s draft budget.
Frustrated by Congress’s refusal to provide the budget he sought to build a
border wall, Trump declared a national emergency last month in order to
bypass lawmakers to unlock $8 billion in funding.
The move drew condemnation from both the president’s rival Democrats and
fellow Republicans, who warned it was an abuse of presidential powers and
created a dangerous precedent.