Despite hemorrhaging money on the military and starting yet another potential war — this time in Syria — President Donald Trump remains determined to finance and build a wall between the United States and Mexico.
Besides the fact that US taxpayers will ultimately foot the cost for the project, the border wall is morphing into a monstrosity — even beyond our original fears. The plans offered by contractors sound like they were drawn from “The Hunger Games,” with maps drafted to buy homes out from under citizens. And some individuals are even finding themselves on the “wrong side” of the wall.
The plans are still in development, but one thing is clear: This border wall will be worse than we could have ever imagined.
Contractors have already started submitting plans for their versions of the wall, complete with … booby traps. Apparently it’s not enough just to make it more difficult for people to enter the US undetected — some contractors are ready to cause actual physical harm or death to those who are desperate enough to try.
“Imagine a border wall made of solar panels or a booby trap of nuclear waste where the United States meets Mexico,” reports Tjanuhe Los Angles Times. “Pittsburgh-based Clayton Industries would have a chain fence, followed by sensor banks and a 100-foot-deep trench with nuclear waste at the bottom. Anyone managing to cross that would face a rail line and a 30-foot wall.”
Yes, our the Trump administration is legitimately considering a nuclear waste booby trap to keep people out of the US.
Of course, it’s difficult to imagine anyone wanting to live near a nuclear waste dump. And that’s just as well, since the government is already making plans for a land grab. The move will displace Americans through eminent domain, or the right to force people off property deemed necessary to be used for projects of public good.
Think Progress explained:
In January, before Trump had even been inaugurated, the seizure process began for some Texans with land along the Mexican border. The Texas Observer reported that on January 12, a ‘Declaration of Taking’ was mailed to Maria Flores, one such property owner by the Justice Department, informing her that the United States ‘is acquiring property along its border with Mexico in order to construct a fence and related improvements designed to secure the border, as required by the Secure Fence Act,’ a 2006 law that required reinforced fencing along parts of the US-Mexico border.
Legislators note that eminent domain may oust homeowners, as well as ranchers who need the land for grazing. The policy may also restrict access to water and even to the gravesites of family, but some people are just as concerned that they will end up on the “wrong” side of the wall once construction ends.
“According to Pat Bell of River Bend, she voted for Trump but never supported his border wall plan, and now she may have to get a lawyer because her home will no longer be in Texas,” reports Raw Story. “Saying fences and walls don’t work, Bell said she’ll fight to stop it. ‘Absolutely I would go to the people who are in charge and, you hate to say I would get a lawyer, but if it comes to that issue, you would,’ she explained.”
As of now, the wall remains an unfunded pipe dream waiting for the go ahead to happen. But even if funding goes through and a contractor is tapped, that still doesn’t mean it will become a reality.
According to multiple government contracting experts, those who have submitted bids for construction so far likely lack the resources to actually follow through and build this eyesore.
“One industry insider who works for a larger firm that is not competing for the wall told CNN that he was concerned that the firms currently listed as interested vendors may not be capable of completing the project,” reports CNN. “These small-to-medium sized firms could have issues with bonding and hiring workers to build the wall, the source said. This insider also worries about these small firms’ ability to scale up and manage a project of this size.”
That may come as a disappoint to those hoping for nuclear waste pits and other booby traps, but it’s good news for the rest of America.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
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