Among all the noise, if there’s one thing that’s defined much of Donald Trump’s rise to power and time in the spotlight, it’s his relentless push for a border wall along the southern U.S. border. According to The Washington Post, smugglers from Mexico are already sawing through some of the “wall” that the Trump administration has put up, which in reality consists of individual steel bollards suspended between panels of concrete that Trump has insisted are “virtually impenetrable” and on par with a Rolls-Royce. His claims are brazenly wrong, meaning his personal passion project for which he’s billing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars is already going even more off the rails.
How can the wall be considered anything but completely pointless if it’s already being sawed through?
The Post bluntly explains:
‘Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump’s border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of the damage.’
The power tools that they’re using consist of implements as simple as a reciprocating saw available for as little as $100. Although The Post notes that those saws need “specialized blades,” it takes — wait for it — just minutes for the smugglers to saw through the barrier using this method. In other words, to render what Trump has spent years and billions of dollars on can be rendered completely pointless in an afternoon by someone with a couple hundred bucks to spare. Considering precedent, Trump seems unlikely to admit this. No government agency would formally discuss the situation with The Post.
Ironically, one of the key “showy” aspects of the new barrier that’s gone up under Trump’s watch seems quite helpful to the sawing operations. Engineers speaking with The Post explained how the tall height of those steel bollards makes them easier to push out of the way once they’re sawed through, after which they can simply be left dangling from their top panel.
The publication also notes that according to officials with knowledge of the situation, smugglers have overcome new wall with — wait for it — ladders!
Spectacularly, one recently departed Trump administration official blamed Democrats for the issue. Ronald Vitiello led U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until April, and he told The Post:
‘The cartels will continue to innovate, and they’re not just going to leave San Diego because the wall gets better. That’s life on the border… The bollards are not the most evolved design; they are the most evolved that we could pay for. We never said they would be an end-all, be-all.’
Actually, that’s exactly the kind of stance Trump has taken. Besides insisting the new wall is “virtually impenetrable,” just this week he told a rally crowd:
‘The wall is going up rapidly… And this is a very serious wall. This is the exact, everything they wanted.’
In reality, this key feature of the Trump administration’s policy platform is coming apart — literally, although he even specifically touted the wall’s supposed fortifications against cutting in recent days!
Friday night: Trump says you can’t cut through the wall.
Saturday morning: Washington Post reports that smugglers are absolutely cutting through Trump’s wall.
HOW IS THIS REAL LIFE!? 😂https://t.co/DTL9WCJyhu https://t.co/gt8ybCCKhs
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) November 2, 2019
