Eight builders, including a Hispanic-owned, Arizona company and an Israeli radar maker, unveiled models for walls to be constructed at the Mexican-American border, according to Voice of America.
The prototypes – full-scale versions of narrow sections of wall – were unveiled October 26 in a dirt lot in San Diego, creating a puzzling spectacle from homes in Tijuana located just a stone’s throw from the lot.
If President Trump’s US$1.6-billion request to Congress is approved, the selected version of the wall would be built along a 60-mile stretch in Texas and replace an aging 14-mile fence in San Diego. The models cost approximately US$400,000 each.
During the several weeks it took to erect the models, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesperson noted that about six illegal crossing attempts through the dirt lot were stopped by U.S. agents.
Meanwhile, an analysis by Reuters shows that, since the fall of the Berlin Wall (designed to keep citizens in), members of the European Union have embarked on 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) of fences designed to keep immigrants out. Some fences separate EU-member countries who have no-passport agreements. Separatist sentiments are being raised by the unstoppable international spread of computer viruses, bad ideas, financial crises, contraband drugs, arms, refugees, and other forces, explains Moisés Naím of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.