30-foot-tall barrier rising along Arizona-Mexico border

Twenty-two miles of barrier are rising on the U.S.-Mexico border east of San Luis. The fencing, topped with barbed wire, will stand 30 feet tall.

BY PETER SAMORE

Jun 6, 2019, 4:44 AM Updated: 10:23 am

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(Screenshot)

Twenty-two miles of barrier are rising on the U.S.-Mexico border east of San Luis.

The fencing — topped with barbed wire — will stand 30 feet tall.

“People say, ‘You build a 30-foot wall, they’ll have a 31-foot ladder,'” said Yuma Sector Border Patrol Agent Jose Garibay.

“But, in order to go 31 feet up, you also have to go 31 feet down on the other side.”

Construction of the ~22 miles of primary border wall near San Luis, AZ continues to progress. This aerial footage was taken on May 30 and shows the ~1.1 miles of 30 foot wall that have been installed to date. pic.twitter.com/25611j5xP1

— CBP (@CBP) June 4, 2019

Garibay says the fencing replaces Vietnam-era landing mats — steel sheets converted into a border wall. Agents couldn’t see through it, and it’s rusted.

“It was put up in the late ’90s, early 2000s, and it’s just what we had off-hand without being able to spend money to get some new material,” Garibay said.

“It’s not very thick, and it’s very easy to be manipulated and breached by the smugglers. They often will use vehicle jacks. They dig under it and cut through it.”

Garibay says the new fencing is harder to dig under.

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