Smugglers have breached the Trump administration’s border wall along the US-Mexico 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.
He added that border security “requires a variety of resources and efforts, infrastructure, technology, and personnel”, much of which was not funded when Trump’s wall was constructed.
Before its construction, former president Donald Trump promised Mexico would pay for construction of the border wall and that it would be “virtually impenetrable”.
Part of the border wall is constructed using posts cemented in concrete at the base which support a long lintel at the top.
In one instance, an SUV loaded with 23 migrants passed through a section of border wall near San Diego and soon after collided with a semi-truck, killing 13 people. »