Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said in an interview to be aired Thursday that construction on the southern border wall will start within months and be completed in less than two years.
“The wall will be built where it’s needed first, and then it will be filled in. That’s the way I look at it,” Kelly told Fox News in an interview about the 1,300 mile long border wall President Donald Trump ordered built in an executive order last week. The retired Marine Corps general added that he hopes the wall will be “done within the next two years.”
Kelly said that won’t be “more than a few months” before construction starts on the border wall, and that the protection of the border will also include technological sensors, and that “great men and women who are going to make sure that the wall is intact.” President Trump’s executive order called for the hiring of an additional 5,000 border patrol officers.
Congress has yet to appropriate funds for Trump’s border wall, and it is estimated to cost around $14 billion. Secretary Kelly said, “The White House is working with the Congress on discussions on when we might be able to press on with building it. I think the funding will come relatively quickly and like I said, we will build it where it’s needed first as identified by the men and women who work the border.”(RELATED: Ryan Praises Trump As High Energy, Says Border Wall Is ‘National Security Priority’)
Kelly also spoke about backlash Trump received over his executive order temporarily barring the entry of refugees and said that “Mr. Trump is not loved by everyone in America.”
“I don’t think the American public is really all that used to people making decisions. I really don’t think they’re used to people that say things on the campaign trail actually turning them into action,” the homeland security secretary added.