A government report Monday warned that the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, risks blowing through its budget and not meeting key deadlines regarding President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, NBC News reported.
The report by the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, an internal government watchdog agency, found that DHS has not provided a complete analysis required to efficiently build the proposed barrier along the Mexico border — which could result in wasted taxpayer money. It also said the wall may not work as planned.
"DHS plans to spend billions of dollars developing and deploying new barriers along the southwest border," the study said. "However, by proceeding without key information on cost, acquisition baselines, and the contributions of previous barrier and technology deployments, DHS faces an increased risk that the Border Wall System Program will cost more than projected, take longer than planned, or not fully perform as expected."
A spokeswoman for DHS said the risks, threats and costs were taken into account during "initial prioritization" for developing barriers.
"After years of investment in a border wall system, we experienced a roughly 90 percent reduction in apprehensions in the San Diego, El Paso and Yuma sectors," she said.