A new study shows prototypes for President Donald Trump's border way failed to meet the “non penetrable” criteria, but officials insist the project is still on target with new sections of a border wall started being built in El Paso Saturday. The steel bollard wall will replace fencing in the area.
“Some of it may not be fully obvious to the naked eye, but I can assure you that structurally they are more formidable to prevent against breaching,” says “Brian” Martin, sector chief for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“We have anti-climb features that we're incorporating into it which will make it much more difficult for folks attempting to climb over.”
The prototypes, says Martin, were never meant to be the final product, but to see how well they could stand up to various testing using the types of techniques known to illegal aliens trying to cross the border.
“With those structures, we see how long it would take for someone to cut a hole using power tools. We also look at how long it would take for somebody to scale and to cross over the top of the barrier.”
William Gheen with Americans for Legal Immigration PAC says regardless of testing, the wall was doomed from the beginning.
“That's what prototypes are for, you know, you build them and you test them and see what you can do,” he says. “The truth of the matter is no particular wall is going to work without the man power to back it up.”
Gheen says what's really needed is more boots on the ground to reinforce whatever structure is put in place.
“If I was president, I would have the United States military on the border within a matter of days or weeks, and they would be able to stop a fox from crossing,” he says.