Build the Wall - Border Wall Update
Bottom Line: In my previous border wall update story in July the not so magic number was 1.7. That was how many miles of border wall were being added on average per month. The primary reason, legal challenges over funding and the existing work to replace 280 miles of existing border fencing that needed to be replaced. The good news, if you’re wanting to “build the wall”, is that legal challenges over funding were most recently won by the administration and the funding for wall expansion was quickly underway by the end of July.
At the previous update here’s what we had in terms of a physical southern border.
- The US had 654 miles of physical barriers on the southern border
- 34% of the Southern border had a barrier
- 99% of the replacement projects were complete
As I mentioned in July;
As the replacement work wraps up and we advance deeper into the 2020 cycle, it’s likely increased focus will be applied to “wall” progress. To achieve complete success there are approximately 1,200 miles of additional barriers needed. At the existing pace of 1.7 new miles per month it’d take about 59 years to complete.
The process has sped up just a little bit since then. According to the Border Patrol, 74 miles of additional wall has been completed. The “wall” consists of 30-foot-tall steel beams with massive concrete footers. This should place us with about 728 miles of wall now in place along with restoration projects having been completed. Approximately 37% of the southern border that’s been targeted for a wall has now been completed. What’s more is that the Border Patrol has much more in the works. According to their update an additional 159 miles is now under construction as well. With the funding having cleared legal challenges the pace has rapidly picked up. If, and it’s a big if, this pace keeps up through next year we could be looking at crossing the 50% mark by the end of next year. You could certainty see President Trump running on the point of being halfway there and needing a second term to finish building the wall. To be continued...