I’ve not dived in much to the whole border wall fiasco recently because all the discussions quickly descend in to the political hate-fest I’ve no interest in. This doesn’t mean that’s change and I’ve no interest in the blame game between Republicans and Democrats here – I hold you all in equal contempt. I can’t shake the curiosity about what is actually going on there though and I don’t know whether the details just aren’t being reported internationally or Americans are equally in the dark. Basically, what exactly is the oft-quoted $5.7 billion for? Is there an actual detailed proposal or plan detailing exactly what it’d be spent on? If there is, why aren’t the politicians on either side talking about those details – surely Trump and the proponents would want to sell what they’re going to achieve and the opponents would want to challenge specific flaws and issues. If there isn’t, where did the specific amount come from? On a related note, what’s the deal with those test sections that were being built last year and the testing of different types of wall being reported about briefly? It seems like progress is being made on some kind specific plan yet at the same time the politicians talk about whether they want a (concrete) wall or a steel barrier? Shouldn’t the policy be to investigate which of those options are best? I’ve also not heard anyone talk about exactly where a new wall would go, only in generic terms about it being the full length of the border or not. I know there are existing barriers at various points along the border and I’ve also not seen anything about whether the plan is to replace these with something different and/or to add to the length covered. Please note that I’m not really interesting in opinion here, I’m wondering if there are any factual details and plans in existence that simply aren’t being talked about or if this is really as haphazard and on-the-fly as it appears.
