A House panel approved $10 billion for a border wall between the United States and Mexico on Wednesday, moving it to the House floor for debate, The Hill reported.
The bill, which passed by a party-line 18-12 vote, includes border wall funding, another $5 billion to improve ports of entry and money for 5,000 new agents for both the Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection, per The Hill.
The bill would also allow the federal government to reimburse states up to $35 million for use of National Guard assets to reinforce border security, The Hill reported.
"We have been talking about border security for so many years and now we finally have a chance to get this done," House Homeland Security Committee chairman Michael McCaul of Texas said of the legislation, per the Washington Examiner.
"We finally have a partner in the White House who has prioritized this issue. It's time for Congress to do its part and get this done," McCaul added.
Democrats complained the during the hearing that the wall was nothing more than keeping an expensive campaign promise for President Donald Trump, the Dallas Morning News reported.
"This bill is a partisan exercise to appease President Trump's misguided vision of border security," said U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, per the Morning News.
McCaul introduced the legislation in July, saying the bill provides for physical barriers, that includes a levee wall, fencing, and technology.
"Illegal immigrants, smugglers, and drug cartels continue to infiltrate our country so we must quickly secure the homeland through infrastructure, technology, and personnel," McCaul said then in a statement. "We are talking about a historic, multi-layered defense system that makes it nearly impossible for bad actors to slip through the cracks.”
"We must have physical barriers — including a wall where necessary and fencing when appropriate, the right technology, and more personnel in place to enforce our laws and detain those attempting to enter illegally," he added.
If the bill is approved by the House, it faces a difficult time in the Senate where it would need some Democratic support to make it to Trump's desk.
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