No member of Congress along the U.S. border with Mexico wants to fund Trump's border wall

Ranchers along the Mexico-Arizona border

(Image credit: The Wall Street Journal)

last updated 24 April 2017

The Trump White House is insisting that Congress include $1.4 billion in funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall in a spending bill that has to pass this week to avoid a government shutdown. Republican leaders in Congress are unenthusiastic about the demand, in part because they need Democratic support to pass a spending bill and Democrats are generally opposed to funding President Trump's border wall. So are many Republicans, including several who represent areas along the border. In fact, The Wall Street Journal found, "not a single member of Congress who represents the territory on the southwest border" said they support the border wall funding request.

There are nine House members from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California whose districts abut the Mexico border, and eight senators from those states. The three GOP House members argue that the money would be better spent on other border-related measures, as do Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have voiced skepticism about Trump's wall, but they declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal about the budget request. All six Democratic House members and four border-state Senate Democrats were staunchly opposed to the wall.

White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, who is pushing the funding demand, was unmoved. "You're always going to have constituencies within both parties that have local issues — we get that," he told the Journal, insisting that GOP leadership was on board because "they know it's a priority for the president." The representatives of border districts, even those advocating for stricter border security, say Trump's focus on a physical wall is misplaced and a waste of taxpayer money. Drug smugglers and human traffickers "will go over, through, or under physical barriers, sometimes pretty quickly," Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) told The Wall Street Journal. Last month, the newspaper found similar sentiments among Arizona's border ranchers, who strongly support Trump. Watch below. Peter Weber