The acting chief of the Department of Homeland Security will tout the construction of 400 miles of the border wall Thursday amid emotional left-wing protests against President Donald Trump’s barrier.
Acting Secretary Chad Wolf is expected in McAllen, Texas, to celebrate the milestone with Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
After Trump’s slow start in 2017 and 2018, he declared a national emergency in early 2019 and pressed his deputies to get as much border wall built as possible.
Officials began getting Pentagon money and promised to build 450 miles by November’s election day, despite continued resistance from pro-migration groups.
The wall is now growing around 10 miles per week, and Morgan is regularly tweeting videos of construction progress.
The critics are getting more bitter as the barrier advances.
The construction project also includes flood doors so that the barrier can cross rivers and dry beds with far less risk of logjams during seasonal floods:
But the construction program does have real problems — partly because progressives have fought against it tooth-and-nail. The Wall Street Journal reported October 23:
President Trump set the goal about a year ago and, to fulfill it, contractors are building largely on land the federal government already owns, including in areas where illegal border crossings have been relatively low in recent years. In some cases, the new wall is replacing a shorter border fence installed in the late 2000s. In other locations, new stretches of wall are being built where previous administrations opted for barriers designed to stop only cars or where the rugged terrain already serves as a natural barrier.
Progressives are allying with tribal groups to make religious and environmental arguments against the border wall:
Critics are also posting much useful information about the wall and border enforcement.