MEXICO (Sputnik) — Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray reiterated on Friday the country’s position that it will not pay for a border wall with the United States, the construction of which was initiated by US President Donald Trump.
“The idea that Mexico will in any way participate in the financing of a physical barrier between our countries is something absolutely unacceptable, it violates the human rights of our compatriots in the United States,” Videgaray told journalists on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, as quoted by the country’s Foreign Ministry.
The most recent estimates peg it at $21.6 billion, almost twice the $12-billion price tag Trump claimed during his campaign.
The wall, which would take at least three years to build, would be built in three phases, to cover some 1,250 miles (2,000 km) of the border, according to an internal report expected to be presented to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Keller. This will join the 654 miles of wall previously fortified by President George W. Bush, and will cover nearly the entire 2,000 mile border.
