Where there's a will, there's a wall. That's the theme the Trump Administration is pushing with a recent announcement by the president touting accelerated funding and construction for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The administration has outlined a bold plan to build 450-500 miles of new wall by the end of next year, including 100 miles of new wall in the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas.
The wall was Trump's most notable campaign promise in 2016, but the project has faced numerous obstacles since he took office, including nearly universal opposition by Democrats in Congress and Democrat border state governors, along with legal challenges by private land owners along the border and court rulings blocking funding or construction. But now, the project is finally picking up steam since the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the president can redirect existing Defense Department funds for the wall.
Some Trump voters and supporters remain skeptical. William Gheen with Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) tells KTRH Trump has made a lot of grand promises on immigration. "But then you look at what he actually does, and he either doesn't do it or he does something opposite of what he told us," says Gheen. "And so it is a big problem, and it's very disappointing for many of us who voted for him."
Gheen believes Trump is using the wall to cover for failures elsewhere on immigration policy, on things like DACA or ending birthright citizenship. "All of these other broken promises are things you can't go capture a picture of...the wall is a physical, tangible asset that you know is either there or not there," he says. "So (Trump) knows he has to at least get some of the wall done."
The bottom line for Gheen and some other Trump voters---they want to see much more than the wall. "If Trump builds a wall from the Gulf to the Pacific, it's not going to matter if millions of illegal aliens get citizenship and voting rights through the current amnesty legislation that the White House supports," says Gheen.