Trump administration scraps 32km of wall after funds from savings fail to materialise

Workers at a border wall construction site in New Mexico, on Aug 23, 2019. Savings weren't sufficient to pay for an additional 32km of wall in Arizona and California. PHOTO: AP

LOS ANGELES (BLOOMBERG) - The Trump administration scrapped three border wall projects that it said it intended to build using money found from cost savings in constructing other portions of the barrier along the southern border.

In a court filing on Friday (Sept 13), the administration said it had determined the savings weren't sufficient to pay for the additional 32km of wall in Arizona and California.

A divided US Supreme Court in July allowed the administration to start using disputed Pentagon funds to construct more than 160 km of fencing along the border, letting the president take his biggest step yet towards erecting his long-promised wall.

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