The Omnibus Appropriations bill for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2018 includes some funding for so-called “border security” but not the extent of funding request by the President.

The Trump Administration’s position, going in to negotiations on the Omnibus, was that they wanted $1.6 billion for 74 miles of new wall barriers. In addition, they requested $1.1 billion for border security technology. As the budget process was grinding forward, potential contractors built prototypes of various solid barriers.

The final deal, about to be voted on in the House of Representatives is a partial victory for those who recognize that a concrete barrier is not the answer to today’s immigration issues. After all, as former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano used to say, “Show me a 50 foot wall and I’ll show you a 51 foot ladder.”

Instead of wasting money on an expensive sugar pill of a solid wall, the deal sets $641 million for roughly 33 miles of new border fencing that must be of the same see through fencing technology used for the last ten years since the Secure Fence Act is signed into law.

The Omnibus also provides $1.3 billion for border security technology such as sensors.

At Taxpayers we believe this is far better than wasting $25 billion on a huge wall that will, ultimately, not solve the immigration issues the U.S. currently faces.