*Yawn* Another Seventy Miles Of Border Wall: And the Media Still Insists It's Not Being Built

Despite the mainstream media continuing to insist that the President isn’t building any new border walls, sections of new or vastly improved “barrier systems” continue to appear as if by magic. And last week these efforts appeared to kick things up another gear, though you probably didn’t hear about it on most cable news outlets. The Department of the Interior is transferring more than 500 acres of federal land to the Department of the Army. The land will be used to begin construction on another 70 miles of border wall, so make room for the construction brigades, folks. (Epoch Times)

Approximately 560 acres of federal land will be transferred to the U.S. Department of the Army to facilitate work on roughly 70 miles of border barrier, the Interior Department announced on Sept. 18.
The transfer of administrative jurisdiction of the federal land is in response to a series of applications submitted by the Army for construction or replacement of barriers along the southern border. The land transfer doesn’t include national parks or any Native American land.
“I’ve personally visited the sites that we are transferring to the Army, and there is no question that we have a crisis at our southern border,” Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt said in a statement. “Absent this action, national security and natural resource values will be lost.”

Anticipating the predictable backlash and lawsuits from Democrats and their supporters (who keep insisting they don’t support open borders), it appears that the land in question was chosen carefully. None of it includes national parks or lands belonging to indigenous tribes. None of it is on private property. Anyone looking to challenge this move will have a tough time demonstrating they have standing to do so.

The sections of border in question are among our more troubled stretches, dealing with significant rates of illegal crossings. One region is in both Luna and Hidalgo Counties in New Mexico. They’re located just to the west of El Paso, Texas. There are already plenty of Army troops assigned in the region so they should be able to get to work there pretty quickly.

The next piece is in Yuma County, Arizona, near the California border. The final stretch will be constructed in San Diego County, California. That’s one of our busiest areas for border traffic and has been featured in many news reports covering this topic. It’s also badly in need of upgrades and repairs.

Seventy more miles still isn’t going to get us anywhere near the goal of a major barrier stretching from sea to shining sea, nor do I know if we’ll ever reach that goal. But as long as construction is taking place in the areas where it’s physically easiest to reach and cross our border, the impact on illegal immigration will continue to grow. There are stretches along that border where only the toughest and most determined outdoorsman could survive for any significant period of time. A few people will make it across, but for the most part Mother Nature does the job for us.

As soon as these new sections are complete, you can expect the President to show up at at least one of them for a photo op. And perhaps he should. Of course, somebody on CNN will come up with a reason to say the wall segments “aren’t new” or don’t count or something. But if the barrier system prevents easy crossings, who cares? Let them talk. We just need a secure border.

“Seventy more miles still isn’t going to get us anywhere near the goal of a major barrier stretching from sea to shining sea, nor do I know if we’ll ever reach that goal.”

You MORON, There is no intention to build a wall ...wait....
I just read it again and I see how clever in deception you are.

You didn’t say “build”, nor “wall”, but your purposely misleading statement is still FALSE!

There is no “goal” of a barrier from sea to shining sea.

First of all, we are not building a barrier or is there an existing one on our NORTHERN border, which does “stretch from sea to shining sea”

Second, Our southern border that technically does “stretch from sea to shining sea” although much shorter than our northern border, we WILL HAVE a “barrier”, everywhere we want there to be one, along it’s entire length. Much of it was put there by GOD!. The rest, Trump will build or fix.

In areas where lawsuits or tribal burial grounds block wall/”barrier” construction, we will be able to FLOOD those areas with Border Patrol agents no longer needed to patrol the entire southern border “stretching from sea to shining sea”.

“I saw that they were adding more fence between Santa Teresa and Columbus, NM.”

The new barrier is already funded to run all the way West, past the Columbus Port of Entry, roughly to the corner of the “bootheel”.

46 miles out of DoD Counter-Narcotics money, 13 miles further from DoD Military Construction accounts. More miles are also funded around the Antelope Wells Port of Entry, and near the Arizona border.

In total, more than half of New Mexico’s International border has already been funded for Trump-style super barrier (around 100 out of 180 miles). Many (mostly hidden) layers of new technology are rolling out, even quicker than the barrier.

“In areas where lawsuits or tribal burial grounds block wall/”barrier” construction, we will be able to FLOOD those areas with Border Patrol agents”

Border Patrol speaks of three necessary elements for controlling the border - Infrastructure (Barrier, roads), People, and Technology.

With little fanfare, technology Programs have been funded, and are rolling out faster than barrier. Often, they only cost 1/1,000th as much per mile to install (more to operate and maintain though) compared to infrastructure. Technology provides powerful operational capabilities.

Effectively 100% detection rates - in real time. Immediate observation of events that trigger alarms (cameras automatically zoom in), to identify the threat, and monitor engagements. It is a very different thing for dispatched Border Patrol Officers to encounter a bunch of women and children seeking welfare, then to encounter a dozen narcos with rifles and millions of dollars worth of drugs. Good to know what they are responding to - and backup or medical evacuation will be quicker, if the command post is watching the engagement as it occurs, and flying drones to watch from above, for folks masked by terrain to those on the ground.

Complete traffic data captured for analyzing illegal traffic and cartel operations, including photo and video evidence for prosecutions (or immigration determinations). Aerial tracking of crossers in rural areas. Seismic detection of tunneling activity ground penetrating radar for existing tunnels, acoustic detection of low-flying drones; Radar, LIDAR, IR (heat), motion and pressure sensors. Mobile surveillance capabilities for hunting shifting smuggler tactics. Enhanced observation abilities for Officers on Patrol, enabling them to see miles into Mexico, or pick out the heat signature of a kid under a bush two miles away.

The game is really changing. We have been way behind goal on hiring enough new Border Patrol Officers, but as you say, existing Officers can concentrate into shrinking barrier gaps.

This year was the start of the real full scale deployment of both barrier and technology though. Late arrival of the budget (March 2019) and contracting lead time ate up a lot of this calendar year, but we are now off to the races. The real operational results in controlling the border are just now beginning in earnest. Every month from here on out, more and more of the highest priority miles will be coming under effective operational control. In San Diego, the biggest city on the border (funded first, in 2017), apprehensions are already down 90%, and on track for completion in January.

In 2020 barrier will be growing faster than one mile per day, and technology will be covering additional miles (all the new barrier itself includes some layers of new technology).

"is this really the design they chose?"

The picture above is of the first segment completed, in Calexico, CA. Back then (FY17 only), the appropriation restricted the design, to only pre-existing designs.

In most places since, they have the anti-cimb plates at the top (5 foot high flat plate). In urban areas, it is mostly 30 feet high. The Military deployment to the border has been extended through FY20, and a portion of them are Engineer troops, who are still going behind construction crews and stringing concertina on the bollards. Two or three rolls of concertina, thirty feet up in the air, is a really terrifying thing to encounter.

The bollards main weakness against common people (vs. cartels) is ladder and rope assisted climbing. 30 foot height, anti-climb plate and concertina are each very effective at defeating or deterring a lot more climbers.

Even though that Calexico barrier from the photo lacks an anti-climb feature at the top (the rounded barrel top, or the common anti-climb plate), the Military has since added concertina to the 2.25 mile segment in that picture (West of the Port of Entry). This shows the configuration of the concertina that has been added to that segment of barrier (American side):

In addition to 30 foot barrier, that segment also included improved road, stadium lighting, persistent day/night camera surveillance from the command post, as well as additional sensors and alarm systems.

That area (right across from an outlet mall), used to lead the Nation in attacks on Border Patrol Officers. Those attacks dropped 85% immediately as the bollards went in, even before the concertina.

Currently, construction is underway on 11 miles of 30 foot "wall system" (the total package of bollards, roads, lights, cameras, alarms and sensors) on the East side of the Calexico Port of Entry as well.

On 3 September, the Secretary of Defense authorized Military Construction funds to build a secondary bollard barrier through Calexico as well, so they would have to get over two of them (each 30 feet high, with Border Patrol vehicles able to race up and down between them).

San Diego has their new Primary barrier complete (mostly 18 foot bollards with anti-climb plate), and 10 out of 14 miles of 30 foot bollard secondary barrier complete (on schedule to complete in January. Apprehensions are down 90% already, and the remaining apprehensions are all (ALL!) where the secondary barrier is not yet complete.

Double barrier bollard wall system is super effective.

Before, it was child's play to get over, under or through the old Primary barrier in San Diego, and the old Secondary was breached (cut through) two to three times per day on average. So far, only four attempts to breach through the new Primary bollard barrier have been attempted, and none have succeeded. San Diego is the biggest city on the border, facing one of the strongest and wealthiest drug cartels (Sinaloa Cartel, averaging 5-6 murders per day in Tijuana alone, often with terroristic torture and desecration of the bodies). If it works there, it must be a rock solid system.

Here is a nice 30 second video from DoD, which shows that same 2.25 mile segment (Calexico West) after the Military followed up the construction crew, stringing concertina, and painting it black (at the request of local businesses and politicians). The President apparently liked the black better than the natural rusty red of that special “weathering steel”.

https://dod.defense.gov/News/Special-Reports/Videos/?videoid=707465

From the air, you get a flavor for what the 30 foot drop would be like. 30 feet is the height which kills half of the men who fall from it (LD50). An illegal crosser fell from this segment shortly after it was installed (before concertina) - breaking both of his femurs and his back. Only rapid helicopter medevac to a major trauma center saved his life. Luckily for him, operators in the command center were watching him climb the barrier by camera, and had a patrol vehicle dispatched.

You can see his fall at the 22 second mark here: https://youtu.be/xEQR1wK5FCM

More difficult to watch are these Guatemalan girls falling fro 18 foot bollards, breaking spinal vertebrae and ankles: https://youtu.be/zQH4v9BbI4I

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