BORDER WALL TEST SHOWS TRUMP’S WALLS ARE ANY THING BUT IMPENETRABLE

…Impenetrable?  I don’t think so!

Tests show that common tools can penetrate Trump’s wall examples

Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has tested a prototype of the steel-slat border wall design that President Trump favors for his Mexican border wall.  The DHS test proved that the steel slat design could be cut through, fairly quickly with a saw purchased at a local Ace Hardware store.  

NBC News reported and the photo was obtained by the network, and it clearly shows the gaping hole in the middle after participants from the US Marine Corps were instructed to attempt to destroy the barriers with common tools.  Testing by DHS in late 2017 showed all eight prototypes, including Trump’s favored steel slats, were all very vulnerable to being breached.  

This is according to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) report from last February.  CBP spokesman Ralph DeSio said the prototypes “were not and cannot be designed to be indestructible,” and can only “impede or deny efforts to scale, breach, or dig under such a barrier, giving Border Patrol Agents time to respond.”

During the presidential campaign, Trump promised to build an “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful wall, on the border, that would be paid for by Mexico.”  This obviously isn’t going to happen.

President Trump has repeatedly advocated for a steel slat design for his border wall, which he described as "absolutely critical to border security" in his Oval Office address to the nation this week.  But the DHS testing of Trump’s steel slat prototype proved it could be cut through with a saw available at any hardware store.

This photo obtained by NBC News shows the results of the test after the Marine Corps individuals were instructed to attempt their entry into the US as would those attempting to breach the wall using common, available tools.

The Trump administration had ordered the construction of eight, both steel and concrete prototype walls built in Otay Mesa, California, just across the border from Tijuana, Mexico. 

Trump inspected the prototypes back in March 2018.  He eventually settled on the steel slat, or steel bollard design for the proposed border barrier additions.  Steel bollard fencing has also been used under previous administrations and it allows the border patrol to see through the fence, which was one of their requests.

The president has also said that he has understood that the Democrats would prefer the steel over concrete, but Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer have said: “No fence is acceptable, and our symbol should be the Statue of Liberty, not a Border Wall.  We want 21st Century Border Security, not the 18th Century security of a Wall!”

Copyright G. Ater 2019