DONALD Trump has secured $1bn from military funds to build a section of his border wall with Mexico.
The cash will allow army engineers to begin building 57 miles of 18-foot-high fencing in Yuma, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas.
As well as a wall the money will be used for road improvements and new lights.
The administration has previously it plans to shift an additional $1.5 billion at some point in the future for more wall construction.
The El Paso sector has suddenly become the second-busiest corridor for illegal border crossings after Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, many of them asylum-seeking families from Central America.
The Yuma sector has also witnessed a jump in illegal crossings, particularly Guatemalan families in remote areas.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he has authorised the Army Corp of Engineers to begin planning and construction for the project.
The building of a wall on the border and the insistence that Mexico would pay was a key part of Trump’s successful 2016 presidential election campaign
He has argued the wall is needed to curb illegal immigrants and illicit drugs streaming across the southern border.
Earlier this year the President shut down the US government for 35 days after the Democrat leaders refused to bow to his demands for $5.7billion to build,
After the government reopened, Trump declared a national emergency in bid to by-pass Congress and build the wall using military funding instead.
Trump’s emergency declaration drew unanimous opposition from congressional Democrats and some Republicans who objected that he was abusing presidential powers.
But a resolution by Congress declaring it unconstitutional was itself vetoed by Trump earlier this month.
A group of senior Democratic senators have now written to Shanahan saying they “strongly object” to the use of the military budget to finance the wall for the President’s “pet project”.
Chair of the House Armed Services Committee Adam Smith said he looks forward to hearing Shanahan explain “how he intends to pilfer the military construction accounts, circumvent the intended nature of the law, while simultaneously abusing the trust of the American people”.
The US Department of Homeland Security estimates the wall will cost £17billion, according to a leaked report.
However some estimates are as high as $67billion.
Its plan says the construction should take place in three stages and be made up of both fences and walls covering around 1,000 miles.
Senator Ted Cruz has suggested El Chapo could see his £12billion fortune used to pay for Donald Trump’s border wall as part of tough new anti-trafficking laws.
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