Military

Pentagon Prepares To Build Wall To Confront National Emergency

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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The Department of Defense is preparing to build the first 57 miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in response to President Donald Trump’s call to stop illegal border crossers.

The military has allocated up to $1 billion to build the first 57 miles of “pedestrian fencing” as part of Trump’s response to a “national emergency” at the border, where illegal aliens continue to thwart border control guards, Fox News reported Tuesday.

The planned 18-foot barricade is slated for the Yuma and El Paso borders with Mexico with an additional $3.6 in funding anticipated soon. (RELATED: Hillary Clinton: ‘There Is No National Emergency At Our Border’)

EL PASO, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 11: Workers carry a sign that reads 'Finish the Wall' as they prepare for the arrival of President Donald Trump for a rally at the El Paso County Coliseum on February 11, 2019 in El Paso, Texas. Trump is expected to ask Congress to allocate funds for more wall to be built along the U.S./Mexico border as the Democrats in Congress ask for money for other border security measures. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Workers carry a sign that reads ‘Finish the Wall’ … (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The construction is authorized under U.S. Code Section 284, which empowers the DoD 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 read, according to Fox.

In proclaiming a national emergency, Trump faced considerable political obstacles. The measure was defeated by the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, and Republicans in the Senate also voted against Trump’s declaration to defeat the authorization. Trump vetoed that congressional rebuke.

House Minority Leader and California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy says the president’s veto will stand. (RELATED: Report: California To Pull Troops To Protest ‘Manufactured’ Border Emergency)

U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks with reporters after a meeting with President Donald Trump and congressional leadership about the partial government shutdown at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks with reporters … REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

“The president will be fine in the House,” McCarthy told Fox News. “The veto will not be overridden.”

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan explained in the DoD statement that the funding will be transferred to the Department of Homeland Security while the Army Corps of Engineers will be responsible for erecting the fencing.

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