The "Fund and Complete the Border Wall Act" would fine Mexico and other countries whose citizens enter the United States illegally $2,000 per head. It would work by cutting that amount from foreign aid and redirecting it towards the wall.
Some 400,000 immigrants are caught entering the US illegally every year, so if the bill is passed, it could raise $800 million annually according to the Washington Examiner. The US gives only $320,000 million in aid to various programs in Mexico annually, according to USA Today in 2017, so the wall funding from the immigrant tax would be essentially capped around there.
But Biggs isn't stopping there — he's apparently trying to fund the wall bigly.
The bill would also charge a fee for Americans wiring money overseas and increase the fee for a form used by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to keep tabs on legal foreign tourists, with the money collected also directed to fund the wall.
It would also up the overtime rate for CBP agents to equal those of other Homeland Security branches.
"Even with a Republican-controlled House and Senate, we have failed to secure the funds for the border wall. In the meantime, our Border Patrol agents suffer demoralizing losses of resources and personnel," Biggs said in a statement. "Some in Congress view border security as leverage for an amnesty deal, but that would turn a crisis into a catastrophe."
"This is why I introduced the ‘Fund and Complete the Border Wall Act,'" he added. "We must keep our promises to the American people. We must fund, start, and complete the border wall without further delay. I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of this legislation."
The bill would force construction of the wall to begin by December 2019. The US and Mexico already have a border wall; however it exists mostly in places that would be otherwise safe to cross, forcing migrants to trek through dangerous terrain to make it into the United States.
