30-ft Border Wall Construction Underway To Replace Secondary Barrier in San Diego

In San Diego, approximately 90 feet of secondary border fencing has been built to replace an old fence. It’s an update agents say was desperately needed, in part, to keep up with modern tools. The new 30-foot-high steel wall will replace this 16-foot stamp-steel mesh fencing, which Border Patrol Agent Theron Francisco says was regularly breached. It can be cut and people can get through in about 30 seconds. In the 90s those types of tools weren’t readily available like they are now. The new secondary fence is 14 miles long. That’s 1.5 miles longer than the fence it's replacing and about 14 feet taller. It’s also 6 feet deep. Francisco says the new infrastructure will prevent alien smugglers from cutting the fence and getting across the border. The secondary fence until now, it would get cut almost on a daily basis, in the last 3 years, we average over 1500 cuts in that 3-year-time period. It was almost average a cut a day. There are 2 layers of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego, California. The old primary fence was made up of Vietnam-era landing mats and stood at about 8 to 10 feet tall. Now it’s been almost completely replaced with 18-foot-tall steel bollard fencing. A huge improvement, according to border patrol agents. Our primary wall did not go into the soil at all, it sat right on top. Agents say the new secondary fence will also prevent vehicle drive-overs like these. We saw rudimentary tunnels under that old primary fence on a daily basis. Francisco says with the new infrastructure, they expect that it will now take illegal crossers much longer to breach. That won’t happen anymore, it won’t be possible for them to get through in a minute to two minutes. Construction to build the 30-foot tall steel wall began on February 18. It was just days after President Trump declared a national emergency over border security. Construction firm SLSCO Ltd. of Texas was given the $101 million contract in December 2018. Agents say they’re hoping the sheer size of the new primary and secondary walls will deter those trying to cross illegally. Our old infrastructure was not intimidating, it wasn’t hard to get over. We would see infants, small children, get over that wall with help from you know from people in their group. We’ve seen elderly get over that. Just the sheer size of our new infrastructure will deter a lot of people. One thing agents wanted was to be able to see through the fence for any incoming danger on the other side. Agents say as of now, there have been no obstacles in its construction. Kimberly Hayek. NTD News. Credit: Instagram/ @rodney_s_scott_