By Jerry Markon and Lisa Rein:
The action on the proposed wall was one of two presidential decrees Trump signed Wednesday to begin what administration officials are privately calling “immigration week.” Trump ordered a broad crackdown on the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, mandating more detention centers, additional federal border control agents and a withholding of federal funds to cities that do not comply with federal immigration laws.
The wall was Trump’s signature and perhaps most controversial proposal in a presidential campaign that centered on his planned crackdown on illegal immigration. In an interview in 2015 with The Washington Post, the then-presidential candidate said the structure will be “easy” to build and “can be done inexpensively.”
But border security experts and former DHS and congressional officials said Wednesday that the project is a massive and difficult undertaking. In addition to the cost, they said, it would face engineering and environmental problems; fights with ranchers and others who don’t want to give up their land; and the huge topographical problems of the border, which runs through remote desert in Arizona and rugged mountains in New Mexico, as well as, for two-thirds of its length, along rivers.
“Building the wall would be an unprecedented undertaking, logistically, financially and resource-wise,” said Joanne Lin, senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. “And it’s not going to be erected overnight either. It’s a huge expense.’’
The Trump administration will have to contend with private ranchers, farmers and other property owners with land along the border. Just one-third of the border is made up of federal and tribal lands, according to a 2015 report by the Government Accountability Office, with private and state-owned lands making up the rest.
The Full Story (January 25, 2017)
See also: 5 Challenges Trump May Face Building a Border Wall by Kevin Schaul and Samuel Granados.
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