At the Congressional Republican Retreat in Philadelphia on Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan said the wall would cost up to $15 billion, more than the $8 billion Trump has estimated the wall will cost.
Trump vowed on the campaign trail to make Mexico pay for the wall, but Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto insisted on Wednesday that Mexico would never pay for the wall. In an interview Wednesday night with ABC, Trump repeated his claim that Mexico would reimburse the U.S. “Ultimately it’ll come out of what’s happening with Mexico,” Trump said. “It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form.”
One Photographer Traveled the Full Length of the U.S. Border With Mexico
A U.S. Border Patrol agent removes a ladder used by undocumented immigrants to climb a border fence on Oct. 18, 2016 near McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty ImagesU.S. Customs and Border Protection agents fly near the U.S.-Mexico border while on helicopter patrol on Oct. 18, 2016 near McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty ImagesA U.S. Border Patrol agent detains a group of undocumented immigrants on Oct. 18, 2016 near McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty ImagesPeople stand in line to cross legally into the United States from Mexico on Sept. 24, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico.John Moore—Getty ImagesThe Rio Grande forms a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 15, 2016 in the Big Bend region of West Texas near Lajitas, Texas. Big Bend is a rugged, vast and remote region along the U.S.-Mexico border and includes the Big Bend National Park.John Moore—Getty ImagesU.S. Border Patrol agents with a K-9 unit detain undocumented immigrants after they illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 18, 2016, in McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty ImagesThis photo made with a smart phone through night vision goggles shows the Rio Grande flowing along the U.S.-Mexico border, as seen from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter during a patrol over the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 18, 2016 in McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty ImagesThe moon rises over the swirling current of the Rio Grande on Oct. 15, 2016 in the Big Bend region of West Texas near Lajitas, Texas. John Moore—Getty ImagesA bullet-proof shield stands to aid U.S. Border Patrol agents on the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 3, 2016 in El Paso, Texas. John Moore—Getty ImagesA child plays in the Pacific surf near the U.S.-Mexico border fence on Sept. 25, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico. The nearby Friendship Park is one of the few places on the 2,000-mile border where separated families are allowed to meet. John Moore—Getty ImagesDunes stretch into the distance near the U.S.-Mexico border on Sept. 27, 2016 in the Imperial Sand Dunes recreation area, California. John Moore—Getty ImagesMexican farm workers hoe a cabbage field on Sept. 27, 2016, in Holtville, Calif. Thousands of Mexican seasonal workers legally cross over daily from Mexicali, Mexico to work the fields of Imperial Valley, Calif., which is some of the most productive farmland in the United States. John Moore—Getty ImagesA man looks through the U.S.-Mexico border fence into the United States on Septt. 25, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico. John Moore—Getty ImagesA Studebaker sits outside a cotton field near the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 14, 2016 near Fort Hancock, Texas. John Moore—Getty ImagesBodies of suspected undocumented immigrants lie in the morgue at the Office of the Pima County Medical Examiner on Sept. 29, 2016 in Tucson, Ariz. Hundreds of migrants die every year in the desert while crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States. John Moore—Getty ImagesPersonal effects found on the body of a suspected undocumented immigrant are stored at the Office of the Pima County Medical Examiner on Sept. 29, 2016 in Tucson, Ariz.John Moore—Getty ImagesDinner tables await immigrants, many of them deportees from the United States, at the Casa del Migrante Sept. 23, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico. The shelter, run by Catholic priests, is part of the Coalicion Pro Defensa, which aids immigrants and asylum applicants seeking entry into the United States. The coalition of immigrant advocates has helped thousands of migrants on their journey north and many more after being being deported from the United States.John Moore—Getty ImagesMexicans enjoy a late afternoon near the U.S.-Mexico border fence, which ends in the Pacific Ocean, on Sept. 25, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico. Friendship Park, located on the border between the two countries is one of the few places on the 2,000-mile border where separated families are allowed to meet. John Moore—Getty Images
Speaker Ryan did not respond to a shouted question about offsetting the cost of the wall in the federal budget. “We are fiscal conservatives,” Ryan said. “If we are going to be spending on things, say infrastructure, we are going to find the fiscal space to pay for that in our spring budget.”
Trump signed two executive orders on Wednesday directing the construction of the border wall and increasing the number of immigration enforcement officers carrying out deportation, as well as border patrol forces.
