Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Friday 17 January 2020
DHS seeks Pentagon funds for 270 miles of border wall

By LOLITA C. BALDOR to settle for just $1.4 bil-
Associated Press lion in wall funding follow-
WASHINGTON (AP) — The ing the longest govern-
Department of Home- ment shutdown in history.
land Security has asked In reaction, he declared a
the Pentagon to fund the national emergency that
construction of 270 miles allowed him to shift al-
of border wall this year as most three times as much
part of a counter-drug ef- money from military ac-
fort, defense officials said counts to wall building. The
Thursday. Supreme Court ruled this
The officials said the re- summer the funds could be
quest came in Wednes- used. In total, about $12 bil-
day, and the Pentagon is lion has been allocated for
beginning what will be a the wall. And billions more
two-week assessment to have been requested.
determine what will be ap- The defense officials said
proved. The officials, who that last year counternar-
briefed reporters on condi- cotics funding was autho-
tion of anonymity, would rized for use to construct
not provide any cost esti- 129 miles of border rein-
mates. The request comes forcement. Military con-
amid sharp divisions about struction money is being
the border wall between In this Sept. 10, 2019 file photo, government contractors erect a section of Pentagon-funded used for another 175 miles.
President Donald Trump border wall along the Colorado River in Yuma, Ariz. Associated Press All together, the officials
and members of Congress said, they expect to com-
who have opposed the Officials on Thursday said pact on military readiness der to be part of its mission plete 400 to 500 miles of
use of military funding for there have been no deci- and the comptroller will to protect the homeland, border construction by the
the construction. sions about any funding identify potential funds. and that the department end of this year.
The border wall is one of levels. And they said the A final decision would be supports the DHS in that re- The officials said broadly
Trump's signature issues — Pentagon's two-week re- made by Defense Secre- spect. Asked whether that that counterdrug money
he's been talking about view will assess if the re- tary Mark Esper. meant supporting DHS fi- can be used for the wall
building a "big beauti- quest meets legal require- When asked about wall nancially, he said, "If that's because the entire south-
ful wall" between the U.S. ments and seeks feasible funding this week, Esper what it takes, we prepared west border has been
and Mexico since his early construction. Senior military said the Pentagon consid- to support." certified by DHS as a drug
campaign days. He also leaders will review the im- ers the southwest U.S. bor- Last year Trump was forced smuggling corridor.q
has claimed that Mexico
is paying for the wall, but
that has not happened. Board delays vote on moving Confederate
Instead, money has been
diverted from military con- monument at Ole Miss
struction projects and drug
interdiction funding, set- By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS It is one of many Confed-
ting up a persistent source Associated Press erate monuments erect-
of conflict between Dem- JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A ed across the South more
ocratic lawmakers and Confederate monument than a century ago. Critics
Trump in the budget bills will remain, for now, in a say its display near the uni-
each year. prominent spot on the Uni- versity's main administra-
Defense officials said the versity of Mississippi cam- tive building sends a signal
request is for construction pus, nearly a year after that Ole Miss glorifies the
or replacement of border student leaders requested Confederacy and glosses
barriers, lighting and roads that it be moved to a Civil over the South's history of
in six sectors across several War cemetery. slavery. The statue statue
states. The six areas, the of- The board that governs was a rallying point in 1962 The Confederate statue is located in the Circle at the University
ficials said, are high traffic Mississippi's eight public for people who rioted to of Mississippi, in Oxford, Miss. on Thursday, January 16, 2020.
Associated Press
areas that include some universities met Thursday oppose court-ordered in-
urban sections near border and delayed a vote on tegration of the university. the Mississippi Department bound donors and alumni.
crossings. a proposal to move the Pro-Confederate groups of Archives and History The nickname for athletic
Earlier this week, officials monument. Trustee Tom from outside the university approved Ole Miss' archi- teams remains the Rebels,
said the Trump administra- Duff said he wants more rallied at the monument tectural and engineer- but the university retired
tion was weighing whether information from the uni- Feb. 23, prompting Ole ing plans for moving the its Colonel Reb mascot in
to shift billions more in mili- versity, but he did not Miss basketball players to monument. That board 2003 amid criticism that
tary funding to build the specify what he's seeking. kneel during the national said the plans meet U.S. the bearded old man
border wall. And House The Confederate ceme- anthem, in protest of the Department of Interior looked like a plantation
Appropriations Commit- tery is on the Oxford cam- rally. Student government standards for treatment of owner. In 1997, administra-
tee Chairwoman Nita M. pus, but it's in a place few leaders voted March 5 to historical monuments. tors banned sticks in the
Lowey and other lawmak- people walk or drive. ask administrators to move The University of Missis- football stadium, which
ers said the administration The University of Mississippi the monument to the sippi has worked for more largely stopped people
was planning to "steal" $7.2 was founded in 1848, and cemetery, where Confed- than 20 years to distance from waving Confederate
billion in counternarcotics the marble statue of a sa- erate soldiers killed at the itself from Confederate battle flags. The march-
and military construction luting Confederate soldier Battle of Shiloh are buried. imagery, often amid re- ing band no longer plays
funding to pay for the wall. was put up in 1906. In December, trustees of sistance from tradition- "Dixie."q