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NBC: All Border-Wall Prototypes Vulnerable To Penetration — Including Steel Slats
Hotair ^
| 01/10/2019
| Ed Morrissey
Posted on 01/10/2019 9:17:49 AM PST by SeekAndFind
![](https://hotair.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/steel-slats-cut.jpg)
Donald Trump travels to the border today, perhaps to declare a state of emergency but certainly to repeat the call for an impenetrable barrier along the frontier. A previously redacted report from the Department of Homeland Security suggests that they’re not having much success in finding such a model. According to NBC News, the report included photos of all eight prototype breached by Marines with ordinary household tools — including the “steel slats” fence.
This might be news if anyone thought it was possible to build a wall that couldn’t be breached under any circumstances:
President Donald 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 Tuesday. But Department of Homeland Security testing of a steel slat prototype proved it could be cut through with a saw, according to a report by DHS.
A photo exclusively obtained by NBC News shows the results of the test after experts from the Marine Corps were instructed to attempt to destroy the barriers with common tools.
The Trump administration directed the construction of eight steel and concrete prototype walls that were built in Otay Mesa, California, just across the border from Tijuana, Mexico. Trump inspected the prototypes in March 2018. He has now settled on a steel slat, or steel bollard, design for the proposed border barrier additions. Steel bollard fencing has been used under previous administrations.
However, testing by DHS in late 2017 showed all eight prototypes, including the steel slats, were vulnerable to breaching, according to an internal February 2018 U.S. Customs and Border Protection report.
Earlier, the White House had bragged about the testing on these prototypes. At the time, the takeaway was that the prototypes were nearly impossible to scale, which is the priority for such barriers. However, it does matter to what extend such barriers can be made “impenetrable,” especially since Trump has made that an explicit promise.
On the other hand, that’s more of a theoretical issue, especially in this case. People crossing the border illegally don’t usually carry tools with them, not even “ordinary” tools. In fact, as ABC’s Matt Gutman reported this morning, they don’t carry anything at all — because the coyotes take it from them:
Gutman also notes that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) wants more of the steel slat fencing erected in the Rio Grande area. Based on this report, it’s not difficult to see why. People are getting dumped along this area because they can cross over easily on foot. Erecting barriers would allow CBP to secure the border more efficiently by narrowing the spaces in which foot traffic can occur, and likely would dry up the efforts to cross far afield of those spaces. The open areas act as a draw for such crossings, and the manpower needed to interdict that traffic is far higher without it — even if technology existed to detect every such intrusion over hundreds of miles.
Frankly, this clip makes the case for more barriers, as Trump is demanding, and rebuts the case that the traffic over the southern border is in any way manageable without them. They aren’t the entire answer, but it at least would make border patrol and humanitarian efforts a lot more efficient. (Front-page photo from DHS report via NBC News at the links above.)
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: borderwall; chamberofcommerce; gettrump; globalists; nbc; smearcampaign
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To: SeekAndFind
After all, all of the border jumpers are from the Special Forces of other countries. /sarc
To: Amendment10
Democrats simply plug their electric saws into convenience outlet in wall, right?Try to keep up with changing times folks. {:-)
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102
posted on
01/10/2019 10:51:52 AM PST
by
itsahoot
(Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
To: SeekAndFind
Okay, make it 12 score concrete.
With Claymores and Ma Duces.
5.56mm
103
posted on
01/10/2019 10:54:30 AM PST
by
M Kehoe
(DRAIN THE SWAMP! BUILD THE WALL!)
To: Deplorable American1776
Im not sure about you, but I wouldnt carry a ladder 10 feet, let alone 4,000 miles... Coyotes can rent them.
104
posted on
01/10/2019 10:54:58 AM PST
by
itsahoot
(Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
To: Bayan
“They always insist that anything the Republicans do must be 100% while for Democrats good intentions are enough even when the actual result is complete failure.”
...if it saves the life of one child....*BARF*
105
posted on
01/10/2019 11:01:02 AM PST
by
bk1000
(I stand with Trump)
To: Blue Jays
I remember having to climb on hooks to the top of a 60ft pole in a refinery. I was a fair climber as I climbed for about 20 years of my 30 year career. I stopped at about 40 ft to rest, then again, about 50 ft, had to adjust my belt a couple of times because the pole was getting slimmer as I went up, and then when I go to the top, I DID NOT want to stay there very long.
On a short pole, I would just use my hands to climb and belt off at the top, but this pole was so large at the butt, I couldn't get my hands halfway around the pole so I used my belt to climb up, Then when you get to the higher spots, I had to tighten my belt a couple of feet. There was a high pucker factor most of the way up.
I remember climbing my first few poles and I can tell you when a newbie gets just a few feet up, they start to re evaluate if they really want to be a phone man. A normal cable is about 25-30 ft up or so on whatever size pole it's on. The electric company usually gets the top of the poles.
Many use bucket trucks today, but even being 40 ft up in a bucket truck with some wind is a fun afternoon.
To: econjack
"How bout this: Towers every two miles along the border with a Marine sniper in each"
There definitely needs to be some infrastructure for the personnel, as well as barrier.
A powerful reality, that planners are aware of though, is the rapid development of robots and artificial intelligence - which will rapidly be displacing the need for a mass of human sentries to monitor the border.
In the areas where double barriers are built, the Enforcement Zone between barriers will be able to be flooded with packs of patrol robots in just the next few years. After that, their cost will just drop and capabilities will increase rapidly.
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107
posted on
01/10/2019 11:02:00 AM PST
by
BeauBo
To: SeekAndFind
To: SeekAndFind
Minefields, vicious animals and machineguns would make breaching the wall moot.
109
posted on
01/10/2019 11:06:23 AM PST
by
Bonemaker
(invictus maneo)
To: timestax
To: BeauBo
the saws they used to cut the bollards for that photo were likely huge truck mounted machines (heavy construction equipment). Supposedly the tools they used were limited to common house hold tools.
111
posted on
01/10/2019 11:06:25 AM PST
by
itsahoot
(Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
To: proust
why don’t the dems approve the funds then if it’s so ineffective anyway?
And NBC should be thrilled Trump wants to put up an ineffective wall so everyone can come in...
Sheesh! What do they take us for?
112
posted on
01/10/2019 11:13:00 AM PST
by
Freedom56v2
(#KATE'SWALL Build it Now)
To: SeekAndFind
the hole in the wall just lets us know where they will be coming in... hehehe, it’s called a port of entry.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
we just put border guards at that one hole. shooting fish in a barrel.
113
posted on
01/10/2019 11:15:11 AM PST
by
teeman8r
(Armageddon won't be pretty, but it's not like it's the end of the world.)
To: SeekAndFind
ALL border walls are subject to breach, and must be monitored and patrolled, with driving patrols and groomed sand tracks every 10 to 15 minutes
If it takes a half hour to cut through, then the patrol interval must be less than a half hour.
That is why I think 2 simple chain link fences with a sand track between them is the fastest and best way to start.
Cheap, easy, and with 24/7 coverage with driving patrols, drones, and rapid response teams, it will cut down to almost nothing ILLEGAL border crossings.
LETS STOP CALLING IT illegal immigration, or even using the term immigration.
It’s just illegal BORDER CROSSINGS that are the issue, NOT immigration itself.
114
posted on
01/10/2019 11:22:02 AM PST
by
Mr. K
(No consequence of repealing Obamacare is worse than Obamacare itself.)
To: SeekAndFind
What is left out of the Nothing But Complaining report is how long did it take to cut through the barriers.
Any wall can be breached given sufficient uninterrupted access.
But if it can’t be done in less time than it takes the Border Patrol to detect and respond, then it doesn’t matter.
115
posted on
01/10/2019 11:22:30 AM PST
by
Valpal1
To: SeekAndFind
A gas axe and a sledge.
Yup, I got that!
116
posted on
01/10/2019 11:24:34 AM PST
by
Big Red Badger
(Despised by the Despicable!)
To: shelterguy
That’s exactly correct.
A wall will not stop the most ambitious...
But if you slow them down enough you can catch them trying.
They will quickly learn not to try.
You need TWO walls, with a sand track between them.
East Germany did that with the Berlin Wall.
But they were not trying to keep people out, they were trying to keep people in.
117
posted on
01/10/2019 11:25:01 AM PST
by
Mr. K
(No consequence of repealing Obamacare is worse than Obamacare itself.)
To: SeekAndFind
"experts from the Marine Corps" Back in the day, I occasionally watched Marines and other SOCOM types conduct opposed boardings in the Persian Gulf. My ship supplied an armed LAMPS Helo, so we watched live over the HAWKLINK FLIR video. The ships did all sorts of crazy things, including welding steel doors closed, rebar, barbed wire, you name it. Our guys always got through in short order. Nothing is impenetrable to guys who are trained and equipped to breach it. You can only slow them down.
Just because you can buy industrial tools at the local big box, that doesn't make them "household". As others have said, you need surveillance, and this type of activity would be easy to spot and respond to.
118
posted on
01/10/2019 11:26:25 AM PST
by
ETCM
To: SeekAndFind
So it is much better to have no barrier at all? As long as we deport them with no judicial review process and no ability for them to work or claim benefits. Sure then I would be for it.
119
posted on
01/10/2019 11:29:52 AM PST
by
pas
To: chuckles
“A 30 ft wall like the ones used as samples, would stop 99.8% of the illegals crossing the border.”
Falls from 30 feet also kill more the half of those whose fall, on average.
So there is that deterrent as well. Horror stories will start getting on TV in Mexico.
A guy fell off the new 30 footers in Calexico last year, a month after they went in. Broke both femurs and his back, but got airlifted to a trauma center before he died, because the site was continuously monitored with night vision cameras.
30 footers will be going in more places this year - the other side of the Port of Entry in Calexico, Tecate, CA; Andrade, CA; Yuma AZ; Lukeville, AZ - and San Diego from the Ocean to the mountains. Those contracts have already been awarded and were funded in FY18.
120
posted on
01/10/2019 11:30:15 AM PST
by
BeauBo
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