Trump's border wall will get its start in San Diego County (30 feet long and up to 30 feet high)

[SirLinksALot]

SOURCE: SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE

URL: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/la-me-san-diego-border-wall-20170410-story.html

Phillip Molnar and Lyndsay Winkley


President Trump’s proposed wall with Mexico will kick off in the San Diego border community of Otay Mesa, U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed Monday.

The community is home to one of two border crossings in San Diego and will be the site where 20 chosen bidders will erect prototypes of the envisioned wall. Winners will be selected around June 1, the agency said.

While funding for the massive infrastructure project is still not set, up to 450 companies submitted designs last week. The agency’s bid said roughly 20 companies will be selected to build the prototypes — 30 feet long and up to 30 feet high.

The models will be built on a roughly quarter-mile strip of federal land within 120 feet of the border, said a U.S. official with knowledge of the plans quoted by the Associated Press.

Border Patrol spokesman Ralph DeSio did not say exactly where the construction will take place, saying only that it would occur in the Otay Mesa area. He added that plans were subject to change.

Of the possible border locations in the region, building the prototypes near the Otay Mesa crossing makes the most sense because it allows companies to test out designs in a heavily trafficked area that still has room and flexibility, according to Eric Frost, director of San Diego State University’s graduate program in homeland security.

Frost, interviewed before the location was confirmed by the federal agency, said Otay Mesa would be a better place to start than the desert to the east or near a river — often empty locales.

“A lot of trucks already use it,” he said of the Otay Mesa crossing. “You want to look at how they actually interact with the fence.”

Construction of the models, which will likely take place in June, may attract protesters, but law enforcement officials said they were committed to supporting 1st Amendment rights.

“As part of our community policing philosophy, we work closely with any party or group that wishes to express their views in a law-abiding manner,” San Diego police spokesman Lt. Scott Wahl said in a statement.

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[libertybele]

Bidding has been underway. Unfortunately, funding has not.

[SirLinksALot]

Bidding has been underway. Unfortunately, funding has not.

The GOP cannot afford NOT to fund this. This issue was a HUGE one during the 2016 elections.