Trump’s border wall prototypes virtually impassable, pass rigorous testing
Article publisher:
Fox News
Article date:
30 January 2018
Article category:
National News
Medium
Article Body:
... “The evidence shows that barriers work,” says Pete Hermansen, a 22-year veteran of the Border Patrol and former director of the agency’s tactical and rescue teams. “In urban areas, a wall makes sense. In more remote areas, sensors and mobile cameras may be the right choice. But you can’t say fences don’t work.”
Before San Diego built a 46-mile fence in the late 1980s, border agents were overwhelmed by illegal traffic from Mexico. In 1986, the agency arrested 629,656 illegal [alien] immigrants, almost the population of Las Vegas.
Today, the 60-mile sector is almost entirely fenced. Apprehensions last year fell to 26,086, a 95 percent drop, as double fencing in the most populated areas replaced barbed wire and 6-foot-high steel mats.
“Fences have made a big difference,” said Tucson Sector Chief Rudy Kirsch...
Fencing in San Diego pushed migrants east to Yuma, Arizona, where agents made 138,438 arrests in 2006. After erecting 126 miles of fence, illegal traffic fell 90 percent, to 12,847, in 2017....
The wall will be based on the eight prototypes recently constructed outside San Diego. The models recently underwent rigorous testing by special operation teams from El Paso and Florida.
According to those familiar with the tests, the walls withstood cutting torches, jackhammers and concrete saws better than anything currently on the border, and were almost impossible to climb...
National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd speaks out on the successful tests.
“I can’t talk about it,” said a DHS official in Washington. “But the walls were so high we had to suspend testing....
Among the eight designs, agents still prefer the see-through bollard style fence, topped with a flat concrete or steel anti-scaling mat. Agents say a 30-foot-high fence may not be necessary, 24 feet might be acceptable...
“If you want people to stop coming, cut off the magnet. If they can’t get a job... and E-Verify virtually guarantees it..."
This provision, however, is a deal killer for Democrats because it cuts off money and jobs for existing illegal immigrant families. It’s also a deal killer for the GOP because agribusiness, meatpackers, restaurants and hotels say they would suffer massive job losses if their illegal workers were forced to have their identities checked through a homeland security database....
Because of this, agents favor the deal. But without interior and worksite enforcement, the border security remains front-loaded....