while they rage... they are already defeated.
Posted on 08/18/2020 5:47:42 PM PDT by BeauBo
President Trump’s border wall construction will reach 300 miles at the end of this week, a top Army Corps of Engineers official said on Tuesday as he gave Mr. Trump a tour of the border region in Arizona.
New wall is going up at a rate of 10 miles a week.
...and while 300 are almost completed, another 300 are under construction. The remaining mileage is still in planning.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Thanks
Wow, up to two miles a day, working in a furnance. I hope the men working there have plenty of electrolytes and cool down time. It’s punishing working hard in heat like that.
“Just today, DHS Secretary Chad Wolf said that 90% of illegal immigrants caught entering the USA, are now deported in under 120 minutes!”
You are a fount of information and good news, always. And I just LOVE Chad Wolf!
“I think Trump is holding it in reserve as a massive accomplishment. Massive!”
On track to top 400 miles in October, right before the election.
We just cracked the first 100, early this year. The pace of construction now is truly massive. Last year we were building two miles per month. Early this year it was two miles per week. Now it is over two miles per workday.
49 simultaneous projects are underway, with more funded and in the contracting pipeline to award.
The announced goal is 450 by the end of the year, but 500 might be possible. It is likely before inauguration day.
As I read reports, 500 miles by inauguration day, more miles well under construction and contracts signed, with first installments already paid on still more miles. Even if Biden wins, my sense is that Trump will have committed to somewhere between 650 and 800 miles.
Biden has already said that he will not tear down any wall that is already built. What about wall that is half-built? Paid for but not started? I predict that he’ll go forward with the bulk of Trump’s commitment. For all of the criticism of PDJT, the southern border is well-contained and in a stable if tenuous equilibrium. A President Biden would be foolish to invite an immigration crisis in his first 100 days in office.
``````````````````````````````````````
https://www.gofundme.com/TheTrumpWall
`````````````````````````````````````
That no longer exists.
.
“Even if Biden wins, my sense is that Trump will have committed to somewhere between 650 and 800 miles.”
The funded number as of today (per the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers) is 733 miles - approximately 300 complete, 300 under construction amd 133 more in the contracting pipeline (pre-construction phase).
I think that the goal is likely to get all that remaining money onto awarded contracts before inauguration day. That status - contract awarded and funding obligated - is what the Chief of Engineers liked to call “In the ground”, as if it was a done deal. Obama allowed such Bush-era projects to finish. Today’s more radical Democratic Party might cancel contracts, and pay big termination fees.
If the Administration follows through on earlier announcements, and transfers more money ($3.6 billion) from this year’s Military Construction accounts, the total amount of funded miles would be up around 885, and contract awards would likely be continuing well past inauguration day. Such projects not yet on contract would very likely be suspended, if Biden wins.
There has been no serious talk about that MILCON money, or those additional miles for the last several months. It may no longer be planned, or they may wait until after the election to actually transfer it (because it would require painfully defunding specific existing projects).
So I think your range of 650-800 miles is very much my own estimate, but there is the downside risk of more radical Dems breaking with precedent, and ordering a near immediate stop work order (around 500 miles), and just throwing away a lot of the money on termination costs.
So 500-700 might be a more conservative estimate.
True.
Ummm... there’s less than two thousand miles of land border in the South. Did you fail basic math? 2000 minus 300 does not equal “couple thousand”.
“A President Biden would be foolish to invite an immigration crisis in his first 100 days in office.”
It won’t be Biden deciding even if he wins the election.
Do they count just new wall construction? Seem to me they should count refurbished to updated standards and new wall construction.
Well of course. It would be his chief advisor, back in the saddle again...
“Seem to me they should count refurbished to updated standards and new wall construction.”
They count whatever they build as new miles, whether something was there before or not.
221 out of the pre-existing 654 miles of barrier were assessed as operationally effective (mainly the 18 foot bollards that have been built over the last 20 years).
That means that the other 433 miles of pre-existing barrier were NOT effective. All of that needs to be replaced, and it was all put in the hottest spots, where traffic was highest (urban areas along the border, and where highways on both sides run close to the border). Until those 433 high priority miles are fixed, most new construction will necessarily be in those areas (derided as replacement, or repair, rather than new).
There is no sense in building miles of new barrier out in the rural desert where few people go, when illegal entries are occurring by the thousands through a few miles of ineffective barrier in a border city.
So the Administration does not distinguish between miles where previous barrier existed, and those where there was none before. They just prioritize by where it is most needed, and avoid being distracted by the Left’s rhetorical attacks on it not being new, as if that discounts its existence or effectiveness.
“refurbished to updated standards”
That is a key feature of what is going on. The Administration refers to it as “Wall System”, rather than just Border Wall. It is a whole suite of infrastructure and technology, engineered to achieve a specific outcome, which they call “Full Operational Control”.
The barrier itself measurably defeats, deters or delays attempts to go over, under or through. Lights, cameras, alarms and sensors provide reliable high detection rates (effectively 100%) and early warning, and high speed, all weather patrol road gives officers, rapid response times to intercept. The total System is in fact working in practice, once everything is installed and turned on (often many moths after the bollards themselves are completed).
These new standards are a revolution in border security, effectively closing the border where installed, rather than just making some marginal improvement.
A friend of mine said he drove across the border, at a deserted area off of a unpaved road, in a rental car back in the 80’s near Nogales. Was the border really that porous, and are there any sections like that today?
very informative, thanks for sharing
2 miles a day is amazing....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.