We need to finish building the border wall, plain and simple.
John Kennedy promises to keep working to secure the border and finish the border wall.
Occurrences
Evidence
"Build the Wall, Secure the Border" "We need to finish building the border wall, plain and simple... I helped lead efforts to build a secure border wall... I’ve prioritized funding for law enforcement agencies to keep our communities safe... I won’t stop battling to make that happen."
"Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA]" is listed as a cosponsor of S.3146, whose official title is "A bill to appropriate $25,000,000,000 for the construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico, and for other purposes." The bill status shows it was "Introduced in Senate" and "Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance."
"CBP has completed construction of more than 200 miles of new border wall system... Construction is underway for an additional approximately 339 miles of new border wall system and another approximately 183 miles are in the pre-construction phase."
CBP says more than 100 miles of new border wall and waterborne barrier are still in planning and construction, and that these projects are funded with prior-year appropriations from FY 2020 and FY 2021.
The bill text requires the Secretary to resume border wall construction and says the Secretary shall construct a border wall along not fewer than 900 miles of the southwest border until operational control is achieved.
Kennedy urged the Senate to fund DHS, saying Border Patrol and ICE were running out of money and pressing colleagues to move funding forward.
The article reports that DHS waived environmental and historical-preservation laws for border-security infrastructure in Big Bend, and CBP plans roads, vehicle barriers, and surveillance work there.
The report says the administration launched a large border-wall expansion backed by $46.5 billion and that construction is moving ahead in sensitive border areas such as Big Bend.
CBP said more than 100 miles of new border wall and waterborne barrier were still in planning and construction, funded with prior-year appropriations.
Assessments
Kennedy clearly continued working on the promise after winning the 2016 Senate race: he cosponsored border-wall funding legislation, backed later Senate border-security legislation, and publicly pushed DHS and enforcement funding. That establishes serious, material effort and supports credit for continued work on the border-security side of the promise. But the promised outcome to finish the border wall was not achieved. The supplied official CBP evidence shows substantial wall segments were still under construction or planning years later, including in 2025 and 2026. Under the scoring rule, a serious legislative attempt that does not deliver the promised end state should be scored as never, with effort credit. Later-term timing fits because the relevant legislative pushes and the continuing non-delivery are documented after the original 2016 campaign term.
Kennedy made concrete later-term efforts toward the promise, including cosponsoring wall-funding legislation and advancing Senate border-security legislation requiring resumed wall construction. However, the promised outcome of finishing the border wall and securing the border was not delivered: official CBP evidence shows wall projects remained under construction or planning years later. Because he seriously pursued the policy but the substantive promised result was not achieved, this is best scored as not delivered with an effort badge.
Kennedy promised as a federal Senate candidate to keep working to secure the border and finish the border wall. In office, he materially supported the promise by cosponsoring the WALL Act of 2021, which would have appropriated $25 billion for a U.S.-Mexico border wall, but that bill only reached introduction/referral and was not enacted. Available official and current reporting indicates the border wall was not finished, with construction still incomplete and additional miles planned or under construction years later. Because the promised outcome was not delivered, but Kennedy made a serious legislative effort, this is a failed promise with an effort badge rather than partial delivery.