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Pentagon gets request to build roughly 435 kilometres of Trump border wall


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Pentagon gets request to build roughly 435 kilometres of Trump border wall

 

2020-01-16T233536Z_1_LYNXMPEG0F20V_RTROPTP_3_USA-TRUMP-WALL-PENTAGON.JPG

FILE PHOTO: Construction site of the first border wall in Texas since President Trump took office as seen near Donna, Texas, U.S. December 8, 2019. REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has received a request from within the Trump administration to build roughly 270 miles (435 km) of wall on the border with Mexico and is evaluating its cost and viability, a senior Defense Department official said on Thursday.

 

The disclosure of the request by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sets up another showdown with Democrats in Congress, who oppose President Donald Trump's past diversion of billions of dollars in military spending to bolster security on the border.

 

The senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to speculate on the costs of the project but noted it would be paid for out of Pentagon authorities to counter drug smuggling.

 

The Washington Post on Monday reported internal Trump administration deliberations for a $7.2 billion request.

 

The Trump administration has vowed to build at least 400 miles (644 km) of wall along the border by November 2020, when Trump will be up for re-election. In his 2016 campaign, Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall. The Mexican government has refused to do so.

 

Defense Secretary Mark Esper signalled earlier this week he would not oppose some new diversion of funds for border wall construction, saying the border was a security issue and that the Pentagon was committed to supporting DHS' mission.

 

"If that's what it takes, we are prepared to support," Esper said.

 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon's review would probably take two weeks and noted that past requests by DHS for border wall construction had only been partially fulfilled by the Defense Department.

 

The Trump administration has constructed nearly 100 miles (160 km) of border wall, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics current to late December. All of those barriers replaced existing structures, the agency said.

 

The Pentagon's review of the DHS request would include a legal review by Defense Department attorneys as well as a feasibility review by the Army Corps of Engineers.

 

"Sometimes when we get these areas, they're not constructable or it's difficult to do that at certain points," the official said. "Then funding decisions are assessed simultaneous with that."

 

It was unclear when any construction might begin, but the official noted that any funding for it would need to be spent by Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends.

 

The military's Joint Staff would also provide an assessment to determine any impact the project might have on military readiness, presumably because of the diversion of funds. Such projects are not built by soldiers but contracted out to private industry.

 

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Additional reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney)

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-17
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58 minutes ago, xylophone said:

The main problem with this dumbass president is that he hasn't got a clue about most things, and certainly hasn't got a clue about how drugs are smuggled into the USA. Even his own administration has produced statistics which counter his claims, but they may go in one ear, and they certainly go out of the other because there's nothing in between to stop them.

 

Or of course he can't read.......which is also very likely!!

 

An analysis of data from the southern border indicates that the vast majority of narcotics enters through U.S. ports of entry, not the wide swaths of border in between where additional barriers could be erected.
AND

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics, 90 percent of heroin seized along the border, 88 percent of cocaine, 87 percent of methamphetamine, and 80 percent of fentanyl in the first 11 months of the 2018 fiscal year was caught trying to be smuggled in at legal crossing points.

 

Trump’s assertion that most of the drugs that enter the United States come in vehicles that speed across unblocked border areas is undercut by testimony from members of his own administration. We have noted before that various agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security have reported — since Trump took office — most drugs that cross the border come through existing ports of entry.
 

Google "democracy" and "mandate."

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14 minutes ago, NaamGin said:

Imagine if the US had immigration enforcement as stringent as Thailand. 

 

Thailand is a more or less ethnically homogeneous  country where the US is an immigrant country, the two cannot be compared.

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18 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Thailand is a more or less ethnically homogeneous  country where the US is an immigrant country, the two cannot be compared.

Not when there are more than 20,000,000 illegals in the US. 

Ethnicity has nothing to do with immigration. 

There is a legal way to emigrate and an illegal way. 

My point was that Thailand does not tolerate illegals in the country, for any reason. I only wish the US were that way. 

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2 minutes ago, NaamGin said:

My point was that Thailand does not tolerate illegals in the country, for any reason. I only wish the US were that way. 

and my point is that the dynamics that shape immigration laws in the US and  Thailand are different and as such have different systems, one might argue that the US system if infinitely more stringent than the Thai system, but that's an argument for another thread,

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4 minutes ago, sirineou said:

and my point is that the dynamics that shape immigration laws in the US and  Thailand are different and as such have different systems, one might argue that the US system if infinitely more stringent than the Thai system, but that's an argument for another thread,

There is no difference in the dynamics, either you are in a country legally or illegally. 

Does Thailand tolerate 20,000,000+ illegals in the country? 

The US system, even today, is far, far more lenient that Thailand has ever been. 

Stop replying any time you want. 

 

 

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3 hours ago, NaamGin said:

Not when there are more than 20,000,000 illegals in the US. 

Ethnicity has nothing to do with immigration. 

There is a legal way to emigrate and an illegal way. 

My point was that Thailand does not tolerate illegals in the country, for any reason. I only wish the US were that way. 

Please stop posting misinformation.   There is nowhere near 20 million illegals in the US.   The most common range given is 10.5 to 12 million.   Comparisons to Thailand are off-topic, however, there have historically been large numbers of illegals in Thailand and in 2005, for example, there were an estimated 5 million illegal immigrants, that's about 1/2 the number as the US and Thailand is a significantly smaller country.  

Now please get back on the topic.  

 

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7 hours ago, xylophone said:

The main problem with this dumbass president is that he hasn't got a clue about most things, and certainly hasn't got a clue about how drugs are smuggled into the USA. Even his own administration has produced statistics which counter his claims, but they may go in one ear, and they certainly go out of the other because there's nothing in between to stop them.

 

Or of course he can't read.......which is also very likely!!

 

An analysis of data from the southern border indicates that the vast majority of narcotics enters through U.S. ports of entry, not the wide swaths of border in between where additional barriers could be erected.
AND

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics, 90 percent of heroin seized along the border, 88 percent of cocaine, 87 percent of methamphetamine, and 80 percent of fentanyl in the first 11 months of the 2018 fiscal year was caught trying to be smuggled in at legal crossing points.

 

Trump’s assertion that most of the drugs that enter the United States come in vehicles that speed across unblocked border areas is undercut by testimony from members of his own administration. We have noted before that various agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security have reported — since Trump took office — most drugs that cross the border come through existing ports of entry.
 

Don’t pop holes in the ignorance of Trumpites ???? most illegal immigrants fly in, or come through legal ports also

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13 hours ago, NaamGin said:

Imagine if the US had immigration enforcement as stringent as Thailand. 

 

If they did enforcement would be the same everywhere and with tenured civil servants there would be no brown envelopes

 

Not to mention the ability to appeal arbitrary decisions or confront rouge IO's 

 

 

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On 1/17/2020 at 4:46 PM, xylophone said:

certainly hasn't got a clue about how drugs are smuggled into the USA

Xylophone and you do?  Drugs do come across the border with Mexico and cross on foot.  Is that the only way - No. But if you have a leak in your roof, you plug one hole at a time.  Also the wall serves the dual purpose of stopping the major flow of illegals.  Many of whom end up in the drug trade to support themselves. 

customs-GettyImages-51092774-700x420.jpg

nn_08mpo_smugglers_121226.jpg

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On 1/17/2020 at 8:12 PM, NaamGin said:

and my point is that the dynamics that shape immigration laws in the US and  Thailand are different and as such have different systems, one might argue that the US system if infinitely more stringent than the Thai system, but that's an argument for another thread,

NaamGin, the dynamic that shape immigration law in the USA are very simple.  The employers want cheap labor and the Democrats want voters.  The USA previously embraced "cheap labor"  it was called slavery.  That didn't work out too well did it.  Now illegals are de facto slaves by being pushed into jobs with substandard working conditions and pay.  In the end, this will end badly with the USA being transformed gradually into just a proxy looking like Mexico with decrepit homes, trash, drugs, and crime. 

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2 hours ago, Thomas J said:

Xylophone and you do?  Drugs do come across the border with Mexico and cross on foot.  Is that the only way - No. But if you have a leak in your roof, you plug one hole at a time.  Also the wall serves the dual purpose of stopping the major flow of illegals.  Many of whom end up in the drug trade to support themselves. 

customs-GettyImages-51092774-700x420.jpg

nn_08mpo_smugglers_121226.jpg

REPEAT.............

An analysis of data from the southern border indicates that the vast majority of narcotics enters through U.S. ports of entry, not the wide swaths of border in between where additional barriers could be erected.
AND

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics, 90 percent of heroin seized along the border, 88 percent of cocaine, 87 percent of methamphetamine, and 80 percent of fentanyl in the first 11 months of the 2018 fiscal year was caught trying to be smuggled in at legal crossing points.

 

Trump’s assertion that most of the drugs that enter the United States come in vehicles that speed across unblocked border areas is undercut by testimony from members of his own administration. 

 

PS. Logic says that you focus on the KEY/MAJOR elements and deal with the small stuff later........but then since when has logic been in evidence with anything trump does?

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2 hours ago, Thomas J said:

Also the wall serves the dual purpose of stopping the major flow of illegals.

Not the major flow. Nearly two third of illegals enter with a visa and then overstay. And it started long before Trump was elected.

"For 7th Consecutive Year, Visa Overstays Exceeded Illegal Border Crossings"

"The report released Wednesday by the Center for Migration Studies of New York finds that from 2016-2017, people who overstayed their visas accounted for 62 percent of the newly undocumented, while 38 percent had crossed a border illegally.

"It is clear from our research that persons who overstay their visas add to the US undocumented population at a higher rate than border crossers. This is not a blip, but a trend which has become the norm," said Donald Kerwin, CMS' executive director, in a statement."

 

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/686056668/for-seventh-consecutive-year-visa-overstays-exceeded-illegal-border-crossings

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