The U.S. government has pledged $4.8 billion in aid to Mexico, and another $5.8 billion for “strengthening economic development” in Central America, according to the Associated Press.

Amid an intense political battle on Capitol Hill over funding for a U.S. border wall (for which no solution has been offered), the federal government has apparently decided that aid to other countries takes precedent over securing its southern border.

“In sum I think this is good news, very good news for Mexico,” said Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard on Tuesday.

“The commitments established here signify more than doubling foreign investment in southern Mexico starting in 2019.”

The Trump administration initially stated it would work with Congress to provide $5 billion to fund a southern border wall, but appeared to walk back that commitment on Tuesday.

“At the end of the day we don’t want to shut down the government, we want to shut down the border,” Sanders said. “There are certainly a number of different funding sources that we’ve identified that we can use, that we can couple with money that would be given through congressional appropriations that would help us get to that $5 billion that the president needs in order to protect our border.”

The development comes a day after President Trump lambasted Democrats for failing to deliver a secure border to the American people.

“Anytime you hear a Democrat saying that you can have good Border Security without a Wall, write them off as just another politician following the party line. Time for us to save billions of dollars a year and have, at the same time, far greater safety and control!” he tweeted.

Anytime you hear a Democrat saying that you can have good Border Security without a Wall, write them off as just another politician following the party line. Time for us to save billions of dollars a year and have, at the same time, far greater safety and control! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2018

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