Trump seeks $18B for Mexican border wall

The Trump administration has proposed spending $18 billion US over 10 years to significantly extend the border wall with Mexico, providing one of its most detailed blueprints of how the president hopes to carry out a signature campaign pledge.

The proposal by Customs and Border Protection calls for 505 kilometres of additional barrier by September 2027, bringing total coverage to 1,552 kilometres, or nearly half the border, according to a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the matter.

It also calls for 651 kilometres of replacement or secondary fencing, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public.

U.S. President Donald Trump has promised "a big, beautiful wall" with Mexico as a centrepiece of his presidency but offered few details of where it would be built, when and at what cost. His administration asked for $1.6 billion this year to build or replace 118 kilometres of fencing in Texas and California, and officials have said they also will seek $1.6 billion next year.

The 10-year plan, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, resulted from discussions with senators who asked the agency what it would take to secure the border, the official said.

The DACA connection

It comes as the administration intensifies negotiations in Congress on a package that may include granting legal status to about 800,000 people who were temporarily shielded from deportation under an Obama-era program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Trump said last year that he was ending DACA but gave Congress until March to deliver a legislative fix.

The plan on border security came in response to a request by U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, said Jason Samuels, a spokesman for the Arizona Republican.

An administration official confirmed the document was prepared at the request of congressional negotiators and said funding for the wall and other security measures must be part of any legislative package on immigration. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the wall would be "first and foremost" in any package that includes new protections for DACA recipients. She also said the administration wanted to close "loopholes" on issues that include handling asylum claims and local police working with immigration authorities.

Nielsen called the $3.2 billion requests for fencing during the administration's first two years a down payment.

"This is not going to get us the whole wall we need, but it's a start," she said.

U.S. taxpayers will foot the bill

Mexico has steadfastly rejected Trump's demand that it pay for the wall and few doubt that U.S. taxpayers will foot the bill if the wall is built.

At a Saturday news conference at Camp David, where Trump is sequestered with top Republicans for a strategy conference, Trump was asked by reporters if he still expects Mexico to pay for the wall. 

"I believe Mexico will pay for the wall," Trump said. "I have a very good relationship with Mexico. We're negotiating NAFTA. We'll see how that goes. Yes, in some form, Mexico will pay for the wall."

The Customs and Border Protection document calls for a total of $33 billion in new border spending, including $18 billion for the wall, $5.7 billion for technology gear, $1 billion for road construction and maintenance and $8.5 billion for 5,000 new Border Patrol agents, 2,500 border inspectors and other personnel, the U.S. official said.

The document doesn't specify where the extended wall should be built.