In November of last year, when a caravan of hundreds of migrants approached the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego, they faced old landing mat barriers erected decades ago. Border agents say the migrants simply trampled over it as they sought entry into the United States to claim asylum.
The situation on the ground is much different now.
As part of President Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall along the southern border, 14 miles of 18-foot primary steel bollard fencing has been built in San Diego, with a secondary 30-foot steel bollard barrier behind that which is approximately 80 percent complete.
They replace the 8-foot landing mats, which were often supported by a steel mesh behind that. The difference is dramatic.
“It’s incredibly different…I’m able to see the old landing mat right next to the bollard and I’m able to see the old mesh right next to the new bollard and the difference is startling,” Douglas Harrison, Chief Patrol Agent of U.S. Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector, told Fox News.
Harrison explained that it’s not a barrier that can be easily scaled: “It’s an intimidating barrier. I’m an old Army guy, I was in the 101st Airborne and I would not try to cross that.” – READ MORE