US awards contracts for Mexico border wall prototypes

The Trump administration has taken another step toward building a wall on the US border with Mexico, even as funding for the project remains in question.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced it will award contracts to four companies to build four prototypes for the wall.

The CBP has provided few details of the concrete prototypes and said funding for four other prototypes for a see-through structure will be awarded next week.

Four companies were awarded contracts to build reinforced concrete models up to 30 feet (nine meters) high, Acting CBP Deputy Commissioner Ronald Vitiello announced.

The prototypes have to have ‘anti-climb’ features to deter illegal immigrants from sneaking into the United States.

The prototypes will cost a total of $3.6 million.

On Sunday Trump insisted that Congress must find a way to pay for his promised border wall, branding Mexico a hotbed of violent crime

Donald Trump made the construction of the wall his signature issue in last year’s presidential campaign. He promised that Mexico would pay for it, but Mexico has refused.

Trump promised in his election campaign last year to build a wall to keep out illegal immigrants. For the fiscal 2018 budget, the government has proposed $1.8 billion to begin building what could become a $20 billion project spanning the 3,200-kilometer (2,000-mile) frontier.

But Congress is deeply split over the budget and worries are that it might not be able to bridge its differences and fund the government before the fiscal year begins on October 1.

On Sunday Trump insisted that Congress must find a way to pay for his promised border wall, branding Mexico a hotbed of violent crime.

And he has warned that he will close down the government if Congress does not give him funding for the wall.