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Controlled explosions expected in Mount Cristo Rey area for construction of new border wall
KVIA.com (El Paso, Texas) ^ | January 20, 2026 | By Heriberto Perez Lara

Posted on 01/20/2026 1:34:33 PM PST by BeauBo

The U.S. federal government is about to begin construction of a new border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Mount Cristo Rey area of ​​Sunland Park, New Mexico.

According to the El Paso Sector Border Patrol and the Ciudad Juárez Civil Protection Department, controlled detonations are expected to begin today (20 Jan) to prepare the ground and lay the foundation for this new border wall...

...last summer that approximately 1.3 kilometers of new border barrier were approved for the Sunland Park area, south of the mountain. The goal of this new wall in that area is to deter illegal immigration into the United States further, as this section of the border has lacked a wall for years and has been a very active area for migrant crossings, according to Border Patrol.

The controlled blasts are expected to begin around noon on Tuesday.

(Excerpt) Read more at kvia.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: New Mexico; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: borderwall; immigration
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This steep section of the mountain on the West flank of El Paso has long been an active route for smuggling and illegal immigration. It is tough terrain to build barrier, but it is now underway. Without barrier, We had to deploy troops from the 10th Mountain Division to protect this gap, but 30 foot bollards, patrol road and sensor suites are now going in.


1 posted on 01/20/2026 1:34:33 PM PST by BeauBo
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To: BeauBo

https://science.howstuffworks.com/controlled-detonation.htm

How Controlled Detonations Work


2 posted on 01/20/2026 1:52:24 PM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued, but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere)
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To: BeauBo

https://youtu.be/oZcfkozIPDI?si=Pz1csrvXGnrjRZai


3 posted on 01/20/2026 1:59:32 PM PST by aces (and )
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To: BeauBo

I wonder if they will unintentionally collapse smuggler tunnels.

From the picture, probably not. But who knows?


4 posted on 01/20/2026 2:00:59 PM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: BeauBo

Thank you for the update! Keep them coming, FRiend!


5 posted on 01/20/2026 2:02:08 PM PST by rlmorel (Factio Communistica Sinensis Delenda Est)
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To: BeauBo

Now this is what I voted for.


6 posted on 01/20/2026 2:05:06 PM PST by Parley Baer
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To: Pontiac

They should have ground penetrating radar at this point.


7 posted on 01/20/2026 2:18:40 PM PST by ckilmer (`61)
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To: BeauBo

I voted for this! MAGA! *Applause*


8 posted on 01/20/2026 2:38:55 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: BeauBo

https://www.google.com/maps/search/Mount+Cristo+Rey+area+of+%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8BSunland+Park,+New+Mexico/@31.7870498,-106.5661435,7666m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDExMy4wIKXMDSoKLDEwMDc5MjA2N0gBUAM%3D


9 posted on 01/20/2026 2:59:06 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.)
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To: Pontiac

Here’s hoping those smuggler tunnels are collapsed.


10 posted on 01/20/2026 3:09:37 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Parley Baer

And me as well.


11 posted on 01/20/2026 3:09:54 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

So did I.


12 posted on 01/20/2026 3:10:06 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: BeauBo

This is the general area where the ill-fated group We Build the Wall was operating. This action will surely cause the anti-Wall folks to lose their minds. If such is possible.


13 posted on 01/20/2026 4:02:57 PM PST by donozark (Trump isn't a fascist. America's trains still do not run on time.)
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To: BeauBo

(Waits patiently for someone to determine that these blasts would endanger the spotted owl, or the snail darter, and that they must be stopped.)


14 posted on 01/20/2026 4:08:58 PM PST by FrankRizzo890
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To: rlmorel

Despite the favorable geographic location the controlled explosions will not be caused by a pot luck chili cook-off.


15 posted on 01/20/2026 6:16:01 PM PST by MikelTackNailer (be American or Be Gone)
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To: ckilmer

“They should have ground penetrating radar at this point.”

They do.

There are common commercially available GPR systems, that can be towed behind a pickup truck, to map deep underground (utilities, tunnels, etc.). They patrol the roads periodically, and compare the results, to detect any new changes (new tunnels).

So whenever new patrol roads are built (as there will be in this new segment across Mount Cristo Rey), they also serve as a defense against tunnels (as well as enabling interdiction response).

In addition to periodic GPR inspection, embedded seismic sensors are typically part of the Smart Wall sensor suite, which can detect tunneling activity in real time, as well as sawing of bollards, and even footfalls (they are able to differentiate between human and animal footfalls, and immediately alert watch officer terminals in the Command Posts).


16 posted on 01/20/2026 8:32:03 PM PST by BeauBo
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To: FrankRizzo890

“(Waits patiently for someone to determine that these blasts would endanger the spotted owl, or the snail darter, and that they must be stopped.)”

Kristi Noem has waived all that nonsense, as she is legally authorized to do.

There is no learning curve this time around. We are off to the races awarding contracts and waiving the delay tactics that the left used during the first Trump Administration.

This steep Mountain segment was considered too hard to do during the first Trump Admin, but now they have cracked the code on design and construction techniques, and are blasting away expeditiously.


17 posted on 01/20/2026 8:43:58 PM PST by BeauBo
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To: BeauBo

Bessent described one year working for PTrump as dog years.


18 posted on 01/20/2026 8:51:56 PM PST by combat_boots
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To: BeauBo

If we are fortunate perhaps some of these ‘migrants; will failed to have gotten the message ...


19 posted on 01/21/2026 7:45:29 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: Pontiac
I wonder if they will unintentionally collapse smuggler tunnels.

No smuggler tunnels along that stretch - very hard solid rock, hence blasting for holes for fence posts.

If you go to Google Earth and look at the 6/6/25 photo view, you will see smaller fence sections adjacent to a new steep road with switchbacks along the border. These are new but will be replaced by the tall sections beginning next to the small Mexican village of Anapra.

The railroad tracks are for Union Pacific freights and Amtrak's Sunset Limited. The distance from the tracks to the border fence is just under 30 feet and passengers get a close up view of the fence and the third-world village on the other side! Fifteen to twenty years ago, long freights would be stopped due to congestion for the engine fuel racks located in downtown El Paso. It was an opportunity for train robbers to cross the border and raid the container boxes. This no longer happens due to the adjacent fence and the relocation of the fueling site west to Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

However, without a border wall or BP patrols along the mountain itself, illegals and drug smugglers could climb the mountain from south to north. In the last year of the Biden administration, drug smuggler lookouts would station themselves high on the mountain with radios and give illegals the all clear signal that Border Patrol agents were not nearby so they could scramble down the north side into Sunland Park, New Mexico. On several occasions, Fox News had a crew there to document the lookouts and illegal movements.

20 posted on 01/21/2026 2:20:14 PM PST by CedarDave (Having proudly supported Free Republic for over 25 years!)
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