Second to the Great Wall of China? Trump's Mexican border wall will finally rise

It seems there is no stopping President Donald Trump and his Mexican border wall. Its initial construction might start next year. The construction of the border wall became possible after a crucial move was made by the Homeland Security Department. The Trump wall runs hundreds of miles along the US-Mexico border.

On Thursday, Customs and Border Protection officials said that contracts were already awarded to four companies, the BBC reported.

These companies are expected to create four unique prototypes for the border wall. The US Government will then choose from those designs the best one to serve as the model for Trump wall.

The companies that will build Trump border wall

On Thursday, the companies to build the border wall were announced. The companies are W.G. Yates & Sons Construction, Fisher Industries, Texas Sterling Construction Corporation, and Caddell Construction.

The companies will make prototypes that are thirty feet high and thirty feet long. The prototypes’ construction will start in the coming days. These prototypes will then be assessed between thirty to sixty days.

According to Ronald Vitiello, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting deputy commissioner, the prototypes will have to be tested to determine its strength and resistance to tampering and scaling.

The cost of the Trump Wall

Each contract would approximately cost $400,000 to $500,000. Although the said cost of the four contracts is already included in the 2017 budget, funding beyond that will definitely trigger a party dispute in Congress.

On the other hand, some Democrats, as well as immigration activist groups, criticized the administration’s move. Among them is Christian Ramirez who is the Human Rights Director of Alliance San Diego and the director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition.

Ramirez believed that the border wall is the result of Trump’s misguided administration. He added that the US government should focus on revitalizing border communities instead of militarizing the region.

Moreover, the Customs and Border Patrol has a different opinion. They said that the high mountain ranges, as well as the lakes, already provide a natural barrier, thus a border wall will not be necessary.

The Trump wall would cost between $8 billion and $12 billion according to White House officials. The internal DHS assessments, however, indicate that the cost of border wall project could be as high as $21 billion. But regardless of its cost, President Donald Trump is seen to be hell-bent on putting up the Mexican wall as soon as possible.