The Mexico Border Wall is again in trouble. There is no money to complete the wall and three sections would have to wait. The wall was an election promise of Donald Trump in 2016. It was supposed to prevent entry of unwanted elements like drug smugglers and illegal migrants into America. However, there is no sign of the wall except construction of some prototypes even though the 2020 elections are round the corner. The main problem was of finance. Trump had said Mexico will fund it but there are no signs that the neighbor would oblige. Efforts of convincing the Congress to make them available also failed and the president went in for a shutdown and declared an emergency.

Finally, it boiled down to diversion from the military but the money available is not enough.

Politico says the Defense Department has indicated suspension of work on three border barrier projects in California and Arizona. The Pentagon had authorized about 20 miles of fencing and associated infrastructure costing $2.5 billion, which would come from a counter-drug fund. Unfortunately, after rechecking, the authorities concluded that the amount would not be enough.

Brakes applied on the wall project

The Trump administration took a decision to make use of Pentagon funds to build the Mexico border wall, a keystone campaign promise of Donald Trump.

In view of the high cost involved, he wanted Congress to authorize the billions of dollars necessary. When Congress declined that request, the government went into its longest shutdown in U.S. history. Finally, the president declared a national emergency and directed use of defense funds to fulfil his promise.

Politico goes on to add that the decision to tap into alternate sources led to numerous legal challenges.

The Supreme Court overturned the blocks imposed by lower courts and agreed for the administration to use $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds. It was a temporary measure but non-availability of funds from the identified pocket poses a new challenge.

Trump wants the wall at any cost

According to Daily Mail UK, Donald Trump had promised to build the Mexico border wall if he became the president and that Mexico would pay for it.

However, as things stand today, the kitty does not have enough and its non-availability will affect work on certain sections in Yuma and Tucson sectors. The president wanted a wall that would act as a positive deterrent to unauthorized entry. There were gaps in the existing one. Some of these were natural like rivers and mountains while others were manmade and it was necessary to plug the latter. Experts defined the specifications for the wall, contractors built the prototypes and the border police tested them but there was no provision in the budget for the billions of dollars required. Obviously, the project is facing a setback.