The eight prototypes of the border wall between Mexico and the States promised by President Donald Trump are already being evaluated, a Border Patrol spokesman confirmed in Efe on Saturday in San Diego, California.
A group of workers today carried out tests on some of the 30-foot-tall models, including climbing them in different ways with the help of a rope or checking their resistance to blows.
The testing phase to determine which ones fulfill their mission to discourage the flow of undocumented immigrants, which began this week, takes place just over a month after the prototypes were delivered by the firms responsible for its construction.
Until next December 14, this phase will be developed by agents from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), the Army design team and the Border Patrol’s design team.
While the climbing tests will be carried out in the area where the prototypes are located, an area of San Diego near the border fence, resistance assessments will be conducted elsewhere.
During this stage, vehicles, drones, catapults or explosives will not be used, authorities said, and the intention is to ensure that the selected structures are impenetrable, difficult to climb or excavate below.
“This phase is not structured based on approval or failures, but the results will provide CBP with the best attributes among the designs built to be included in future border wall design specifications,” the Border Patrol said in a statement sent to Efe.
Defenders of immigrant rights made a tour today from the other side of the border wall, on Mexican soil, given that access to the San Diego area where the prototypes are located is prohibited.
One of them was Pedro Rios, director of the Committee of American Friends in San Diego, who recalled that this stage is part of the project already financed from the prototypes, and does not mean that the construction of the wall will take place.
“This is not indicative that there is movement in Congress to know if they are really going to approve funds for the border wall,” the activist reiterated.
The construction of the eight models was financed with a budget of 20 million dollars, while the construction of the wall between Mexico and the United States would require at least 21,000 million dollars, according to an internal report from the Department of Homeland Security.
President Trump’s main campaign promise will not eradicate the crossing of undocumented immigrants, according to activists.
“They are not going to stop people from trying to enter the United States when there really is that need,” Ríos said.
