Trump to Request $500 Million More for Border Wall

President Donald Trump is set to bump up his request for border-wall funding by $500 million, a new report says.

The president will request at least $2.2 billion to build the wall in the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in September, according to Politico.

The border wall’s ultimate cost has been estimated at $21.6 billion, not including maintenance, and it will take more than three years to complete, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The president originally promised that Mexico would pay for the wall, but such hopes have flagged since his 2016 campaign.

Supporters of building the barrier have proposed crowd-funding as a way to accrue money for the project. Representative Diane Black (R., Tenn.) introduced the Border Wall Trust Fund Act on Friday, which would “allow the Secretary of the Treasury to accept public donations to fund the construction of a barrier on the border between the United States and Mexico, and for other purposes.” The trust fund would mirror how the federal government raised money to construct the Washington Monument, relying on private donations, Black said.

Congress is in an escalating fight over immigration as some moderate House Republicans have joined Democrats to try to force a series of votes on a legislative fix for the 800,000 children in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, while the conservative Freedom Caucus wants a vote on a hardline immigration bill with shaky support in the chamber.