Attorney General Jeff Sessions is standing resolute on the Trump Administration’s promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
During a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Sessions was asked to address how the federal government plans to fund the project. The former Alabama Senator said that the wall will go up “one way or the other.”
“We need that wall,” Sessions told host George Stephanopoulos. “It will help us complete the promise the President has made to the American people.”
Sessions said building the border will ultimately save taxpayers money, noting that the government pays billions to address crime.
“I believe Congress will eventually deliver,” he added.
Trump has said before that one way to pay for the wall would be to tax remittances from the United States to Mexico. It’s a plan that Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers has put forward.
In March, the East Alabama Congressman introduced the “Border Wall Funding Act of 2017,” which would impose a 2 percent fee on all money sent south of the nation’s border.
“This bill is simple – anyone who sends their money to countries that benefit from our porous borders and illegal immigration should be responsible for providing some of the funds needed to complete the wall,” Rep. Rogers said. “This bill keeps money in the American economy, and most importantly, it creates a funding stream to build the wall.”
According to Rogers’ office, Mexico received over $24 billion in remittances sent from the U.S. in 2014. Mexico’s central bank has confirmed that the number grew to $25 billion in 2015, while total remittances for 2016 are expected to reach $27 billion. Other South and Central American nations received over 15% of their GDPs in the same manner.
