The Pentagon’s Defense to Criticism of Troops Painting the Border Wall: It’s ‘Anti-Climb’ Paint
Days after the Department of Homeland Security told Congress it wanted U.S. Troops to color the southern border wall with Mexico to “improve” its “aesthetic look,” the Pentagon claimed Friday the preservation venture might even have a deterrent effect considering American forces will perform the activity with “anti-climb” paint.
“In response to a Department of Homeland Security request for help, the DoD is offering approximately 100 lively obligation employees to use an anti-climb coating to about a mile of new bollard wall close to the Calexico West port of entry in California,” Major Chris Mitchell, a Pentagon spokesman, said. “This effort will offer an operational advantage, in that the coating addresses camouflaging tactics of unlawful border crossers and makes the bollards extra tough to climb.”
He stated that the price of the substances involved in the painting activity is $ 150,000. It is predicted to take 30 days.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security sent an email to members of Congress about the venture. The email, which was acquired using TIME, alerted lawmakers to the ever-increasing army project down on the border.
“While the primary reason is to improve the classy appearance of the wall, there can also be an operational gain based on our eenjoymentwith a painted barrier in Nogales, Arizona,” the email said. “As an additional and unanticipated benefit of the paint utility, Tucson Sector dealers referred to that individuals seemed to have extra difficulty scaling the painted bollards.“
It’s simply the brand new undertaking assigned to U.S. Forces to view President Donald Trump’s emergency announcement greater than a year in the past. The Pentagon bbecameordered to support the Department of Homeland Security at the border, an undertaking that has regularly evolved with various responsibilities. About 5,000 troops, including 2,000 members of the National Guard, are deployed alongside the 2,000-mile-lengthy southwest border.
The U.S. Army’s deepening entanglements with the Trump Administration’s hardline reaction to the inflow of migrants has drawn hearth from Democrats in Congress.
“A disgraceful misuse of taxpayer $$,” Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois wrote in a tweet. “Our military has more important work than making Trump’s all stunning.”
The Defense Department has accredited severa Homeland Security requests, including aerial reconnaissance, floor surveillance, seek and rescue help, medical help, engineering help, helicopter transportation, personnel protection, and different needs. The Pentagon introduced military contracts in April wthat were orth $976 million to assemble a wall alongside the U.S. border with Mexico.
Besides, American forces have strung coils of razor wire atop southern border fences and access factors with Mexico in California, Arizona, and Texas. U.S. Forces have additionally started parking pick-up vehicles mounted with telescopic video cameras, called “Mobile Surveillance Cameras,” in all nine border Patrol Sectors in the four states bordering Mexico. The devices are armed with infrared cameras, allowing troops to observe for illegal border crossings to perform day or night.
Administration officials are assessing whether army bases in Oklahoma, Montana, and Georgia are appropriate to refuge 5,000 immigrant kids apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border without an adult relative. Existing shelters are strolling out of space.
