The US congressional bill was nearly derailed on Thursday when several Republicans said they opposed it because it did not include a guest worker program, which Fox has been lobbying for since he came to power in 2000.
US President George W. Bush urged Congress almost two years ago to enact a guest worker program that would allow illegal immigrants to stay in the country temporarily to fill jobs unwanted by US citizens. He repeated that message during a recent visit to the Mexican border.
Besides building a wall, the bill would require the Defense and Homeland Security departments to design a plan to use military technology to stop illegal crossings and require all employers in the US, more than 7 million, to check the legal status of workers.
Republican Representative Tom Tancredo praised the fence, saying "what would be the best Christmas present to the American people is pictures of concrete being poured" for the fence.
US authorities estimate there are about 11 million undocumented migrants in the US, about half of whom are Mexican.
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