One of the promises of the electoral campaign of the former US president was progress in the construction of the ‘wall’ with Mexico. With this, Donald Trump sought to solve the migration crisis that plagued the world’s largest economy. He even claimed that it would be his neighbor who would be responsible for paying the bill.
As a result, the US had invested $15 billion in four years to build 727 kilometers (452 miles) of the fence, which covers more than a quarter of the 3,145 kilometers (1,954 miles) that separate the country. from Mexico. The only problem was that most of the ‘new wall’ simply replaced the existing fence.
But did it really help reduce the number of illegal immigrants? It is true that Trump’s policies made it difficult for many nationalities to enter the United States. However, this drop was partially offset by the increase in arrivals from other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. In total, the US Census Bureau estimates that net immigration – the number of people entering the country less those leaving the country – fell to its lowest level in a decade.
With the arrival of Joe Biden to power, everyone thought that immigration policy would suffer a 180-degree reversal. And actually, a few days after winning the election, Mr. Biden ordered a “pause” in all construction of the wall. Today we can see the consequences of this decision: the number of migrants at the US border reached a new record. According to data from the US authorities, some 180,034 immigrants try to cross the Rio Grande.
The situation is so dramatic that even US Vice President Kamala Harris warned immigrants not to “come” to the country. “If you arrive at our border, you will be turned around to return to your country, there are legal methods by which you can migrate.” However, the “racist” and “xenophobic” is still Donald Trump, who was simply following a line similar to that of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
In short, it seems that the construction of the wall will sooner or later resume and the question one should ask is: Who is going to win from it? Clearly, the companies that will be able to provide the security.
Among them we could find the drone manufacturer AeroVironment; Tetra Tech, a leading company in the design and construction of wastewater, water treatment and restoration projects. It is worth mentioning that, during the Bush era, Tetra was one of four companies awarded part of a $ 460 million contract to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.
Other alternatives could be Fluor, KBR and Elbit Systems, which would provide maintenance and repair services under the Border Patrol’s Comprehensive Tactical Infrastructure Repair and Maintenance program.