One Certainty of Trumps Wall: Big Money

[riversedge]

One Certainty of
Trump’s Wall: Big Money

An earlier attempt tried cameras
and radar but ran over budget. The
project was a loss for taxpayers.
But for contractors, it was a big win.

By DANIELLE IVORY and JULIE CRESWELLJAN. 28, 2017

It was the border wall that didn’t get built.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/business/mexico-border-wall-trump.html?ribbon-ad-idx=2&rref=us&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&pgtype=article







Photo
An employee of Cemex, Mexico’s largest cement manufacturer. The company has a United States-based subsidiary that could bid to be a contractor if plans for the wall proceed. Credit Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg

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None of this history seems to have tempered Mr. Trump’s enthusiasm. But it comes at a time when a construction boom across much of the country has created a significant shortage of legal labor to build the wall, according to construction executives and others in Texas. Separately, a study released in 2012 estimated that half the construction workers in Texas were undocumented workers. Which means that many of the laborers on the wall could be illegal immigrants.

“If this wall gets built in Texas, there is a high likelihood that a significant bit of the work force will be undocumented,” said Jose P. Garza, the executive director of the Workers Defense Project, which supports low-income workers.



In another twist, money may flow to Mexicans or Mexican companies. Analysts say it is basically cost prohibitive to ship heavy rock or concrete more than 70 miles, or cement more than several hundred miles. That means manufacturers closest to the border may prove to be the most economical. That could be a big win for Cemex, Mexico’s largest cement manufacturer, which has a United States-based subsidiary that could bid for the project and several plants dotting the border, analysts note. The company could also potentially receive hard-to-trace subcontracts that even government agencies sometimes have a difficult time tracking..................................