Trump to visit US-Mexico border wall as 400 miles of construction completed

US President Donald Trump will visit the US-Mexico border wall on January 12 to acknowledge his administration's efforts and laud the completion of the 400 miles of the border wall that was an important highlight from his 2016 campaign. According to sources of AP, the US president will travel to the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, in Alamo, Texas to inspect the gigantic steel and concrete border wall tearing through the wilderness and the San Pedro River in southern Arizona in middle of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Trump had repeatedly touted the bollard style barrier that will prohibit the Mexicans from smuggling and illegal immigration into the United States. 

The US border patrol has cited that the heavy machinery for the construction has been installed about 10 miles from Quitobaquito, an environmentally significant oasis, which has been a major crossing point for transborder migrants. The US Border Patrol told news agencies that the thirty-foot wall would hamper the natural gateway of drug cartels and smugglers. Environmental experts said that construction across the San Pedro riverbed would halt the immigration of 40 per cent of bird species in North America, as per the statement made by National Audubon Society for Arizona to CNN's ground sources. 

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Wall built out of US taxpayers’ money

US Customs and Border Protection told CNN that Trump’s border wall had cleared "Environmental Stewardship Plans". Often in his rallies, Trump told his supporters that Mexico will pay for the wall. However, according to ground reporters of AP, most of the wall erected at the US Mexico border was constructed out of US taxpayers’ money. Trump had prioritised the wall, and in his last days of presidency, has been pushing for its completion. The US president will make the first-ever public appearance on the site on Tuesday. "Build the Wall" had been a popular motto of Trump's campaign and the work for the 2,000-mile wall had extensively picked up over the last few weeks. As many as 13 Texas counties will fall towards the border frontage with no fencing that will utilise at least 4,900 parcels of property. 

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