Sen. Chris Coons (D-CT) charged in a barrage of tweets on Thursday that he supports increased funding for border security, although he contended that a border wall amounts to a “waste of money.”

Sen. Coons said the partial government shutdown arose from the president’s rejection of multiple, bipartisan, options to fund the government and provide more border security funding. The Connecticut Democrat said that he has already voted for billions in increased border security; however, Coons charged that the border wall amounts to a “waste of money.”

“I’ve voted several times to invest billions of dollars in border security, and I am willing to support more funding for the border, but we’ve heard time and again from experts that the President’s idea for a single concrete wall is a waste of money and a bad idea,” Coons wrote.

Coons continued:

Most Republicans & Democrats agree that we should invest the billions of dollars Congress has already appropriated-but which the Trump Admin still hasn’t spent on border security, make additional border security investments that we’ve already agreed to, & re-open the government.

The senator added, “The President has multiple options to do all of that, he just needs to say ‘yes’ to one of them.”
Sen. Coons’ comments arise despite studies which found that the border wall will pay for itself. A Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) study found that the wall will pay for itself through lower drugs, crime, and poverty that comes with a porous border.

“The wall could pay for itself even if it only modestly reduced illegal crossings and drug smuggling,” Steven A. Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies said in March.

 President Trump echoed CIS’ sentiment, contending that the wall will pay for itself in two months.

“Could somebody please explain to the Democrats (we need their votes) that our Country losses 250 Billion Dollars a year on illegal immigration, not including the terrible drug flow,” Trump wrote in December. “Top Border Security, including a Wall, is $25 Billion. Pays for itself in two months. Get it done!”

Further, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) told Breitbart News in an interview in December about his new legislation, the Wall Bill, which would fund the wall by cutting off illegal immigrants’ access to American welfare and tax credits.

“The president said that this would be paid for by Mexico. And it just occurred to me, it is. It’s not only paid for by Mexico. It’s not just by Mexico, but by Mexicans that are cheating us right now,” Inhofe said.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a leading immigration group, released a comprehensive report last year which found that a border wall serves as a “necessity” to securing America’s southern border.
FAIR contended:

In 2006, Congress required that a barrier be constructed. But the project was never completed as mandated, and much of the border wall/fence lies in disrepair or is built to subpar standards. With illegal immigration, drug trafficking and human smuggling an ongoing problem, and the threat of terrorism ever increasing, it is critical that a proper security barrier be constructed.

“A physical barrier on the southern border is a necessity if our government wishes to meet its obligation to protect the sovereignty and security of the United States of America,” Fair charged.