<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Officials in San Diego say a border wall project has led to a significant reduction in apprehensions. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The project, which began May 2018 and was completed August 2019, replaced 14 miles of weak landing mat barriers with an imposing steel fence. The new barrier is a two-part wall featuring one 18-foot fence and one 30-foot fence, both made of steel bollards, as well as cameras and sensors. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I’m able to see the old mesh right next to the new bollard and the difference is startling,” says CPB Agent Douglas Harrison. “It’s an intimidating barrier. I’m an old Army guy…and I would not try to cross that.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Not only has the wall coincided with a significant decrease in border crossings, but it has improved safety for officers and spurred development. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“We’ve got multimillion-dollar developments going up within sight of the border that could not have existed in the environment prior to starting to put that barrier out there,” says Harrison. “There was too much crime, too many people running through.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The San Diego wall is part of a larger project that will eventually span up to 500 miles. So far, 71 miles have been completed and 162 are under construction.</span></p>
<p>In the meantime, overall apprehensions have dropped nearly 65% since May thanks to immigration agreements with Mexico (this is great news for Trump ahead of the 2020 election).</p>
<p><em>In spite of the proof that Trump&#8217;s immigration policies are working, Congress submitted a joint resolution last week asking Trump to end his declaration of a national emergency at the border. <span class="s1">Trump declared the emergency earlier this year to obtain funding after lawmakers refused to provide money for the wall. </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="s1">He vetoed the resolution last Tuesday. </span></em></p>