The first several miles of the southern border wall could cost nearly $1 billion, according to Department of Homeland Security documents reported by CNN.
President Donald Trump has requested $999 million from Congress this fiscal year to begin border wall construction, and most of that will go toward repairing several miles of border fence and constructing 48 miles of new wall sections, the documents show.
The first priorities for the $999 million wall funding is 14 miles of new barriers in San Diego, Calif., six miles of new wall and 28 miles of river barriers in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. The money would also fund replacing 14 miles of fencing in San Diego, according to CNN.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is in the process of reviewing proposals for prototypes for the wall along sections of the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. The government is considering both concrete structures and other construction materials.
Potential vendors will pitch their designs within the specified requirements, build scale prototypes and then bid for parts of the project.
Trump has said the total cost could be around $12 billion, but House Speaker Paul Ryan floated the number $15 billion. A Department of Homeland Security report obtained by Reuters in February put the cost around $21 billion for the entire project.
Getting any wall funding through Congress this year will be difficult. Democrat lawmakers have already threatened a government shutdown if budget bills include funding for the wall.
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