Homeland Security secretary hopes border wall will be completed in 2 years

The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security has indicated a two-year completion date for the border wall with Mexico.

In an interview with Fox News, retired Gen. John F. Kelly said, "The wall will be built where it's needed first, and then it will be filled in. That's the way I look at it. I really hope to have it done within the next two years."

He further noted, "Any discussion about the protection of our southwest border involves discussion of physical barriers but also of technological sensors, things like that. But it's a layered approach, and it's got to be backed up by great men and women who are going to make sure that the wall is intact."

Kelly also maintained that the administration already has legal authority to build the wall, but they are currently working out funding issues.

President Trump has reportedly estimated the structure to cost $4 to $10 billion but others have placed the figure much higher, up to $40 billion.

He has said that U.S.'s southern neighbor will pay for the wall, but Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto has rejected that assertion, notes The Hill.

In fact, on the day a meeting with Nieto was canceled, Trump tweeted, "Mexico has taken advantage of the U.S. for long enough. Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change, NOW!"