Trump’s border wall prototypes to undergo testing

Eight prototypes for President Trump’s proposed border wall will soon undergo testing to determine how well they stand up to breach attempts, The Associated Press reports.

With the prototypes complete, they will undergo a 30-day wait period to let the concrete dry and harden. After that, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel will put them through tests to see whether they can be easily flouted by people seeking to cross the border.

“Can it be climbed, can it be dug under, can it withstand cutting tools,” acting CBP Deputy Commissioner Ron Vitiello said, according to the AP.

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The testing period will last up to two months, the AP reported. During that time, workers will take sledgehammers, pickaxes and other tools to the walls to test their resilience and effectiveness. 

Vitiello said that officials could opt to combine aspects of several designs after the testing period, meaning that there may be no clear winner in the bid to build the border wall.

Even after the testing period, however, construction on the actual wall itself is a ways off. Congress has yet to approve funding for the project, and multiple lawsuits have already been filed seeking to block the wall from being built.

Trump vowed on the campaign trail to build a massive wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and signed an executive order in his first week in office authorizing its construction. 

But the proposal has been among the president’s most controversial, and many lawmakers have raised questions about the cost and efficacy of the project.