atomikmom Loc: Burien, Washington

30-Foot Border Wall Prototypes Erected In San Diego Borderlands


October 20, 20178:33 AM ET
John Burnett

John Burnett
Twitter

Crews work at the construction site of prototypes for President Trump's border wall in San Diego County.
Bill Wechter for NPR

Construction crews are erecting eight looming prototypes of President Trump's border wall in a remote section of the San Diego borderlands. Four are solid concrete; four are made of steel and concrete; one is topped with spikes. They all approach 30 feet in height. Customs and Border Protection is paying $20 million to six construction companies from Mississippi, Maryland, Alabama, Texas and Arizona. Crews in white hardhats operating cranes and forklifts are expected to complete the models by the end of the month.

Once the sections of wall are finished, CBP — parent agency of the Border Patrol — will evaluate them for three criteria.

"We want a better barrier. One that is hard to scale, hard to penetrate and hard to tunnel under," says Roy Villareal, chief of the San Diego Border Patrol sector.

"We're hoping innovation from private industry combined with our experience generates the next evolution of border security infrastructure," he continues.

Aurelia Rodriguez and her daughter Melanie stand in a structure in Tijuana, Mexico, with a view of border wall prototypes under construction.
Sandy Huffaker/Sandy Huffaker for NPR

About a half-dozen undocumented immigrants have been apprehended in the middle of the construction since the concrete slabs started going up. Most of them hopped over the 10-foot, Vietnam-era landing mats that currently serve as the primary border fence. The Border Patrol says, typically, it picks up about 70 illegal crossers in the entire San Diego sector every day.

While the mockups are massive, it's anybody's guess whether they'll ever get built. Trump's border wall is opposed by congressional Democrats, as well as most of California's and San Diego's leadership. But they're certainly getting lots of press. Every day, border agents in crisp green uniforms shuttle in news crews from as far away as the Czech Republic and the Netherlands to shoot video of the busy construction site just east of the Otay Mesa port of entry. The backdrops: south of the prototypes is a dusty Tijuana industrial zone; to the north are the rugged Otay Mountains.

Competitors who are hoping to gain approval to build the border wall have until the end of the month to complete their work.
Bill Wechter for NPR

"The real issue with building a border wall is what the Congress does, not what the contractors do ... The price tag on this is enormous," says Doris Meissner, a former immigration commissioner and now a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.

"We want a better barrier. One that is hard to scale, hard to penetrate and hard to tunnel under," says Roy Villareal, chief of the San Diego Border Patrol sector.
NPR

CBP expected the prototypes to spark big protests similar to the crowds that massed at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota last year decrying the pipeline. Officials even set aside a "free speech zone" and planned contingencies if trouble broke out. But since construction began three weeks ago, there have been no demonstrators.

"We knew this was political theater (from the Trump administration) and we're not going to respond," says Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition in San Diego. "This is much ado about nothing." He says the much photographed prototypes represent "a guise that a border wall is being built" to please Trump supporters who chanted "Build the wall!" during the campaign.
Border wall prototypes are being erected on Otay Mesa in San Diego County, just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Bill Wechter for NPR

On Tuesday, the president tweeted, "BORDER WALL prototypes underway!" above pictures of the massive sand-colored barriers. Sector Chief Roy Villareal declines to predict the future of the prototypes, or say whether they are, in fact, a model for a wall to be ultimately constructed somewhere along the southern frontier. "Part of the intent of the prototypes is to influence the ultimate design of new border fencing," he says. "[The final design] may well not be what you witnessed this morning." The administration has asked Congress for $1.6 billion for 74 miles of new border wall — most of it in south Texas. The request is pending as Congress considers larger border security and immigration legislation.
http://www.npr.com


We need to build this Wall, as tall as a Mountain and Deeper than an Ocean!! and build it all around our Borders, from top to bottom!!!!. What do y'all think?

Quakerwidow Loc: Chestertown, MD

A waste of time and resources.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

...funny how there is really only of handful of people even at the border who want the stupid wall.

Did you read that ICE is finally going after the people who hire illegals. You want to stop the flow, arrest the people that insentivise breaking the law. Funny how that flow will turn to a trickle....

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

I guess it's different if you're protecting Liberal-land.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

Ya know, I've ACTUALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT....

I'll ask you one simple question:

Did you know that Israel has been building their wall for almost 18 years?

The Israeli West Bank barrier or wall (for further names see here) is a separation barrier in the West Bank or along the Green Line. Israel considers it a security barrier against terrorism, while Palestinians call it a racial segregation or apartheid wall. At a total length of 708 kilometres (440 mi) upon completion, the border traced by the barrier is more than double the length of the Green Line, with 15% running along it or in Israel, while the remaining 85% cuts at times 18 kilometres (11 mi) deep into the West Bank, isolating about 9.4% of it, leaving an estimated 25,000 Palestinians isolated from the bulk of that territory.

The barrier was built during the Second Intifada that began in September 2000, and was defended by the Israeli government as necessary to stop the wave of violence inside Israel that the uprising had brought with it. The Israeli government argues in defense of the wall, that between 2000 and July 2003 (completion of the "first continuous segment"), 73 suicide bombings were carried out from the West Bank, while from August 2003 to the end of 2006, only 12 attacks were carried out. While the barrier was initially presented as a temporary security measure in a time of heightened tensions, it has since been rapidly associated with a future political border between Israel and Palestine.

Take note: it is still not complete. Do you honestly believe that between getting a budget to quote a design, budget a design that has been approved, obtain permits, fight locals who don't want it, entire states that don't want it...up enforcement until it is done.

It's like the war on drugs and poor. There are some successes but mostly it has been a dismal failure. We double down on doing the same thing over and over again with expectation of different results.

One last question: what about the wall to surround Canada? Hawaii, ....Alaska and P.R.?

atomikmom Loc: Burien, Washington

Illegals can use our borders to come through and transport all criminal activities, regardless of where they come from. If y'all can't come here legally then you need to stay in your own Country. This is our Country and we must protect it, 100%.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

Why do MOST illegals come here?

Do MOST illegals come over the border or right under our noses via work and student visas?

When we start arresting GOOD citizens for hiring illegal workers, would we eliminate the border crossings?

Are we actually losing good jobs to illegals that cross the border?

When did illegals start coming over the border?

Why don't you and trumpf do some actual research, instead of act like the obvious answer isn't so obvious.

boatbob2

IF,We the people,Took over all the businesses,that hire illegals,AND either demolish those businesses,or take them away from their owners,the hiring would STOP.

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

He has researched and found the obvious.

They come here for the jobs and welfare..

Next question..

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

You are wrong,,,, the most common visa to be here legally....is a student visa. Most of the "illegals" are taking good jobs and the wall won't stop that.

Purported Mexican criminals only sell to American criminals, thus creating jobs for otherwise unemployed Americans.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

You are a COMMUNIST?

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

The wall won't cure all ails, but it will cure millions of them.

Here's the wall between "Progressive Mecca" California and Mexico. It serves a purpose. It doesn't cure all problems, but I don't hear them calling for it to be torn down.

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/D6NATT/aerial-view-of-the-border-fence-separating-san-diego-and-tijuana-february-D6NATT.jpg

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

It won't cure millions, because millions don't cross illegally even annually.

Where are even 10's of thousands crossing in this picture.

Show me pictures at night of millions of people crossing.

Go ask a border agent how many people cross per day.

Your research is hearsay...period.

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

You underestimate the damage. I didn't say millions cross annually. Those that do cross cost Americans $Millions in benefits paid out, jobs lost, drugs brought in, and lives lost.

boatbob2

these companies,are trying to win a large contract to build this wall,let them use their OWN MONEY,to show examples of their walls.,let them get some skin in the game......