Evidence shows Trump's border wall was an embarrassing failure

[LetMyPeopleVote]

TFG's border wall is a flop which is why it is so sad that Gret Abbott is still spending Texas state money on this flop

Link to tweet

But perhaps most important was evidence that smugglers repeatedly sawed through the barriers with commercially available, off-the-shelf power tools that cost as little as $100. The Washington Post advanced this story in striking ways yesterday.

Mexican smuggling gangs have sawed through new segments of border wall 3,272 times over the past three years, according to unpublished U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintenance records obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act.

To be sure, we learned in 2019 that this was happening. What we didn’t know was how frequently this was happening. We’re not talking about a handful of instances in which a few criminals used power tools; the Customs and Border Protection evidence points to literally thousands of such incidents during the 2019 to 2021 fiscal years.

The Post added that after smugglers breached the wall with inexpensive power tools, they created gaps “wide enough for people and narcotics to pass through.” The article went on to note, “After smuggling crews cut through, they often disguise the breaches with tinted putty, making it difficult for agents to recognize which bollards have been compromised. The smugglers can return again and again to the site until the damage is detected, using the breach like a secret entrance.”

[Hekate]

1. The wall was breached with cheap tools "3,272 times over the past three years"...

How many times per day is that?

[LonePirate]

2. The Republican insistence that the wall works and needs to be complete is amazingly bizarre.

From cheap ladders and ropes being used to scale it to people simply cutting through the slats with tools to winds knocking sections of it down, the wall has proven to be nothing more than a boondoggle and grift for contractors. Still the Republican base clings to it like a security blanket and the politicians are hell bent on protecting it and completing it. Makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

[erpowers]

3. Then Whole Thing IS a Scam

I have begun to think the whole thing is a scam. I have never supported building the wall, but recently I have begun to believe the whole thing is a scam. The real point of the wall is to make money for Republican donors. Republicans do not want the wall to work. That way every year they will get/make money having to rebuild/patch up the wall.

[Poiuyt]

4. A very sturdy wall

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. Who made the real money on this boondoggle and who profited.

Imagine a President who would shill for a lucrative government project. Follow the money.

[Irish_Dem]

6. It was success to Trump's bank account.

I wonder how much he got in kickbacks.

[agingdem]

7. Remember Bannon's We Built The Wall

supposed fundraising campaign...he and his partners defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors...to be honest, I don't care who Bannon duped...if they were stupid enough to donate on Trump's say-so then they deserve to be conned...I know Bannon and company lined their pockets but I'm willing to bet some of the money found it's way into Trump's bank account as well as monies "stolen" from various government funds...

[UTUSN]

8. It was always a boondoggle, as with Wingnut wars & scams, like the comment on PUTIN -

about why his military is crapping out, because contracts and cash were funneled to cronies instead of based on merit and effectiveness.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. Trump's border wall has been breached more than 3,000 times by smugglers, CBP records show

This is really sad

Link to tweet

Mexican smuggling gangs have sawed through new segments of border wall 3,272 times over the past three years, according to unpublished U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintenance records obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act.

The government spent $2.6 million to repair the breaches during the 2019 to 2021 fiscal years, the CBP records show. While the agency has acknowledged that smugglers are able to hack through the new barriers built by the Trump administration, the maintenance records show damage has been more widespread than previously known, pointing to the structure’s limitations as an impediment to illegal crossings.

Smuggling gangs typically cut the barrier with inexpensive power tools widely available at retail hardware stores, including angle grinders and demolition saws. Once the 18-to-30-foot-tall bollards are severed near the ground, their only remaining point of attachment is at the top of the structure, leaving the steel beam dangling in the air. It easily swings open with a push, creating a gap wide enough for people and narcotics to pass through.

Along one 25-mile segment of new border wall between Naco and Douglas, Ariz., The Post recently counted 71 bollards with visible repairs and welds. In most instances, crews repaired the breaches using a sleeve-like steel coupler, referred to as a “boot,” to patch over the hole.

This so-called wall is a joke

[GoodRaisin]

10. Which most thinking people already knew would happen the moment the words "wall"

came out of his brainless head and settled on his lips.

But it damn sure excited a lot of non thinking people.