A Virtual Vision of the Border Wall
S. Himmelstein | August 30, 2017It’s widely known that President Trump is intent on building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. What 
An existing section of the border fence between Brownsville and McAllen, Tex. Source: Bryan Schutmaat / MSNBCmight such a structure look like?
One prototype design submitted to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security calls for a 30-foot concrete wall. Another envisions an aqueduct wall, composed of a constant-flow aqueduct along the U.S. side to supply water to nearby areas, a 22-foot-tall wall built from solar panels erected 100 feet from the actual border to power surveillance equipment and a chain-link border fence (funded by the Mexican government) on the actual border. The President himself has suggested that the border wall sport solar panels as a way to generate revenue for its construction and maintenance.
Rendering of Advanced Warning Systems’ aqueduct wall. Source: Advanced Warning SystemsU.S. Representative Will Hurd (R-TX) has another idea. Along with congressional colleagues, Rep. Hurd has introduced the Secure Miles with All Resources and Technology (SMART) Act. Under the proposed statute, DHS would be mandated to deploy the most practical and effective border security technologies available to achieve situational awareness and operational control of the border. And according to Rep. Hurd, this means high-tech resources like sensors, radar, LiDAR, fiber optics, drones and cameras to detect and then track border incursions.
The design may be based on surveillance technology under development by Anduril Industries, the new defense company launched by Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey.
The greater reliance on high-technology rather than a physical barrier offers impressive cost-savings. While the original border wall plan calls for funding of $24.5 million per mile, the SMART wall is expected to incur costs of $500,000 per mile.
This product of a manic psychopath's warped mind will only, 1) Kill millions of wild animals, 2) cause unneeded flooding and erosion throughout its entire length, 3) waste over $20 BILLION dollars that could be put to a productive use, 4) create untold hardships on land owners who will have their land dissected by this monstrosity, 4) enrich many contractors who will reap mega profits from the boondoggle, and finally this "fence" not stop the flow of immigrants, drugs or much else into this country!
Already "According to CBP, from fiscal year 2007 through 2015, it spent approximately $2.3 billion to deploy border fencing along the southwest border,"
Secure Fence Act of 2006 reported that the whole cost, including maintenance, was pegged at $50 billion over 25 years, according to analyses at the time."[9]
So, $20 Billion is just a small start.
Your first sentence uncovers you as a person who is quick to pass judgment on others and
reject their ideas regardless of what they are, without the benefit of knowing them and having an open mind about it.
After a quick glance, it gives the impression that you possess great expertise not only on the economic, social and ecological impacts of building fences and walls, but also on a vision of the future.
Upon reading your entire entry it appears that it was written with ulterior motives.
I would love to find out: (1) what species of animals will be decimated and more importantly how will they be, (2) how you arrived at this conclusion, (3) do you mean sending the cash to Iran or North Korea or creating another Solyndra as it has been previously done? (4) The landowners on the border have made money and taken advantage of cheap, foreign and illegal labor for many decades,
so in my opinion their complains lack merit, ("5") people gettig rich from goverment
projects is nothing new and should not shock you, you may want to research and find out how, a representative gets to amass a 400 million fortune on a goverment salary, does "Foundation" sound familiar? you say it will not stop the flow of immigrants and you are right! the people of the United States do not want to stop the flow of immigrants, they want to stop the flow of "illegal" immigrants. As far as the drugs is concerned, I do not know the outcome, but it is a step in the right direction.
Whatever the cost is, when compared with the total cost of illegal immigration, the wall is worth every penny.
I may be wrong and please correct me if I am, but it seems that walls, fences and borders around the world, from China's Great Wall and the Vatican one to your neighbor's one, have in the past and are today working as they were intended.
In reply to #2
"quick to pass judgment " is complete nonsense.
Every day since June 6, 2016 the current "president' has insulted, intimidated, mocked, belittled and outright lied at every turn.
It would be useless for me to try to convince you otherwise, since you appear to be blinded to any true facts about the person whose moral. ethical, and political actions prove him unfit for any office.
In reply to #2
when obama was a senator he called for a wall to be built, so did clinton while he was president. now suddenly its a bad thing. sound like politics to me.
In reply to #4
It has always been a bad idea!