President Donald Trump’s immediate 2017 budget request will fund the first 62 miles of border walls and fences, pending the appropriation of more funds in late 2017 for additional construction in 2018, says a report from CNN.

According to CNN, ” The [2017] money will fund 14 miles of new border wall in San Diego, 28 miles of new levee wall barriers and six miles of new border wall in the Rio Grande Valley region and 14 miles of replacement fencing in San Diego.”

CNN’s report does not say how much of the $1 billion planned for extra spending in early 2017 would be allocated to planning and long-term construction of the border fence, which is expected to stretch along much of the nation’s 2,000-mile border. The fence or wall is expected to annually save tens of billions of dollars in reduced spending on illegals and also on offsetting the wage-cutting impact of illegal immigrants.

Already, according to CNN, the administration’s budget “documents also claim that Trump’s executive orders on immigration enforcement are already having an effect, saying arrests are up 50%, charges are up 40% and requests to detain arrested individuals who are deportable are up 80%.”

Trump’s new budget plans also call for an extra $2.6 billion in spending for 2018 to improve border security and construction.

Top Democratic leaders, including the Democrats’ Senate leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer, are hoping to block construction of the wall. But numerous polls show that strong majorities of Americans want to reduce the flow of drugs, preserve U.S. jobs for Americans and also want Congress to pass laws that help Americans. In 2006, Congress passed a law authorizing — but not funding — the construction of a border wall.

Trump’s budget document was sent to Congress March 16, and is titled “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.” It is not the formal budget request for 2018, but it outlines spending plans for 2018, and it requests amendments to the 2017 budgets set by Congress late last year. 

If the requested budget amendments are approved by Congress, the DHS 2017 budget in 2017 would rise by $3 billion. The budget plan also calls for the DHS 2018 budget to be set at $44 billion. A comprehensive budget request for FY 2018 will be delivered to Congress in May. 

According to a department statement:

The FY 2017 Budget Amendment would provide $3 billion [in 2017] for DHS implementation of recent Executive Orders. The request would fund efforts to plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the southern border, and make other critical investments in tactical border infrastructure and technology. The request also proposes funding to increase immigration detention capacity, which is necessary to ensure the removal of illegal aliens from the United States. Finally, the request funds additional capacity at DHS to prepare for hiring additional immigration law enforcement officers and agents…

• Funds hiring of 500 new Border Patrol Agents and 1,000 new ICE law enforcement personnel, plus associated support staff.

• Provides a further investment of $2.6 billion for high priority tactical infrastructure and border security technology, including funding to continue planning, designing, and constructing a border wall.

• Provides $1.5 billion above the 2017 Annualized CR level to expand detention, transportation, and removal of illegal immigrants.

• Invests $15 million to begin implementation of mandatory nationwide use of the E-Verify Program.

• Includes $1.5 billion for DHS activities that protect federal networks and critical infrastructure from an attack.

• Sustains current funding levels for the U.S. Coast Guard, which allows for the continuation of day-to-day operations and investments in the Acquisition, Construction, & Improvements account.

• Restructures user fees for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to ensure that the cost of government services is not subsidized by taxpayers who do not directly benefit from those programs.

• Reduces Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administered grants, saving $667 million; additionally the budget proposes establishing a 25% non-federal cost match for FEMA preparedness grants that do not currently require a non-federal match.

Read the entire budget plan here.