Border wall tests begin
Jackhammers and ropes were among the tools used in U.S. Customs and Border Protection tests this week on U.S.-Mexico border wall prototypes.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection began a series of tests this week using jackhammers, saws and ropes, to see how well prototypes of a potential U.S.Mexico border wall withstand potential assaults.
The tests constitute the next phase in President Donald Trump administration’s efforts to find a design for a wall that could be built along the Southwest U.S. border.
Testing began five weeks after six U.S. contractors finished building the eight prototypes on the outskirts of San Diego. Four of them are made of reinforced concrete, the other four incorporate other construction materials.
Carlos Diaz, CBP’s Southwest branch chief, said testing is taking place at two sites in San Diego and is expected to last between 30 to 60 days.
Part of the evaluation includes how well each contractor incorporated into their design requirements detailed in the initial call for submissions, included anti-scaling and anti-digging features. It also asked that the prototypes be able to withstand attempted breaches for a specific amount of time, which would theoretically give agents time to respond.
Agents with Border Patrol’s elite BORTAC unit are testing the anti-scaling features, Diaz said. That is taking place at the site where the eight, 30-foot-tall structures were built, a few dozens of yards from the U.S.-Mexico border.
“They’re trained to do this type of activity, they’re very creative,” Diaz said of the BORTAC agents. “Even though they have this training, they’ve been having issues trying to climb these prototypes.”
CBP evaluated the anti-digging features during the 30-day constriction process, he said.
The prototypes should deter digging to at least 6 feet below ground, even though many tunnels found on the border are dozens of feet below ground.
The other testing site — where Border Patrol and CBP will evaluate how well the prototypes withstand blasts and other breaches — is at an undisclosed location that houses 10-foot replicas of the prototypes.
“Were looking at using things that we’ve seen along the southwest border and other tools,” Diaz said. “You can think jackhammers, you can think saws, you can look at tools that people can find at your hardware store.”
Once the tests conclude, CBP will determine which features work best. That evaluation will influence future wall designs.
Construction of the wall, however, is dependent of congressional funding. The administration, including newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, said that a wall is not needed “from sea to shining sea.”
The prototype testing began the same week that CBP released year-end data on border apprehensions. The numbers show illegal immigration on the southwest border hit its lowest point since the federal government began tracking data.