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US0Mexico border Trump’s border wall breached by Advertisement

smugglers over 3,000 times, records

reveal
The barrier Trump touted as ‘impenetrable’ can be breached with
common power tools, the Washington Post reports

Jessica Glenza
@JessicaGlenza
Thu 3 Mar 2022 15.33 GMT

Smugglers have been able to saw through posts of the border wall or breach them using
ladders. Photograph: Allison Dinner/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

Smugglers have breached the Trump administration’s border wall along the
USRMexico frontier more than 3,000 times, government maintenance records
obtained by the Washington Post reveal.

Nearly 500 miles of barrier was constructed by the Trump administration

beginning in 2019, mostly in rural New Mexico and Arizona. Former
president Trump touted the “big, beautiful wall” as the “Rolls-Royce” of
barriers, but smugglers have breached the wall at least 3,272 times, mostly
with common power tools found at hardware stores.

“No structure is impenetrable, so we will continue to work to focus resources

on modern, effective border management measures to improve safety and
security,” Luis Miranda, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) told the Post.

He added that border security Advertisement

“requires a variety of resources and

efforts, infrastructure, technology,
and personnel”, much of which was
not funded when Trump’s wall was
constructed. Most viewed
Ukraine will not join Nato,
Before its construction, former says Zelenskiy, as shelling of
president Donald Trump promised Kyiv continues
Mexico would pay for construction
of the border wall and that it would Manchester United 0K1
Atlético Madrid U1K2 aggW:
be “virtually impenetrable”.
Champions League last 16,
second leg H as it happened
Ultimately, 458 miles of new border fencing was paid for by taxpayers at a
cost of $11bn and there was evidence as early as 2019 that smugglers were Live UkraineKRussia war
sawing through the boundary with $100 power tools. latest: More than 3m have
now fled Ukraine, says UN,
Part of the border wall is constructed using posts cemented in concrete at the as Czech, Polish and
Slovenian leaders arrive for
base which support a long lintel at the top. Smugglers are easily able to saw Zelenskiy meeting H live
through the posts and swing them open, then continue using the same
breach until the damage is detected by the border patrol. Other sections have Marina Ovsyannikova:
Russian journalist fined
been damaged by monsoons.
after live broadcast protest
Smuggling organizations have sawn large enough holes to pass an SUV
through. In one instance, an SUV loaded with 23 migrants passed through a Fox News cameraman and
producer killed in Ukraine
section of border wall near San Diego and soon after collided with a semi-
truck, killing 13 people.

By 2021, the government had spent another $2.6m in taxpayer funds to repair
the “wall”, and cited the lack of infrastructure infrastructure and personnel
as an impediment to keeping it intact.

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Topics
USKMexico border
Americas / Migration / US immigration / news

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