President Donald Trump’s planned “great, great wall” began morphing into a physical barrier and an array of high-tech gadgets in congressional talks launched on Wednesday to forge a compromise on security at the U.S. border with Mexico.
Although there were no guarantees a deal could be reached by a Feb. 15 deadline, lawmakers on both sides showed a willingness to avoid ultimatums and seek common ground.
Some negotiators from Trump’s Republican Party avoided uttering the word “wall” during the 17-member border security panel’s first session on Wednesday. They spoke of a mix of enforcement tools, as Democrats had urged.
The long debate over one of Trump’s biggest 2016 campaign promises – a concrete border wall financed by Mexico – entered a new stage after a 35-day partial closure of the government.
Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito said lawmakers can choose “all of the above” for border investments, “including physical barriers where it makes sense.”
Trump made his position clear with an early morning Tweet.
“If the committee of Republicans and Democrats now meeting on Border Security is not discussing or contemplating a Wall or Physical Barrier, they are Wasting their time!” he tweeted.
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