Trump administration picks four companies to build border wall prototypes
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has awarded contracts to four companies to construct concrete border wall prototypes, as the administration looks to move forward with President Trump's promised wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
After months of delays and pushes from supporters to "build the wall," the administration is one step closer to keeping that promise. The selected vendors are Caddell Construction Co., (DE), LLC, of Alabama, Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., DBA Fisher Industries of Arizona, Texas Sterling Construction Co., of Houston and W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Company of Mississippi, according to the CBP.
CBP also released renderings of its southern border enforcement zone, depicting what the wall might look like. The concrete prototypes are between 18 and 30 feet high, CBP said.
The border wall step stems from the president's January executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to plan, design and construct a physical wall along the southern border.
In recent days, the president has re-upped his stance that Mexico will pay for the wall. Earlier this week, Mr. Trump tweeted that Mexico "will pay for it through reimbursement/other."
With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
But it seems unlikely that Mexico will pay for the wall anytime soon, and Congressional Republicans are reluctant to shut down the government in an attempt to force the funding of the barrier, as the president has suggested. Earlier this week, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, said a border wall can wait to avoid a shutdown.