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posted by martyb on Monday November 04 2019, @05:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the if-you-build-it-they-will-come...and-cut-through-it dept.

Smugglers have found an easy way to get through the vertical steel tube Mexican border wall. From https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/smugglers-are-sawing-through-new-sections-of-trumps-border-wall/2019/11/01/25bf8ce0-fa72-11e9-ac8c-8eced29ca6ef_story.html

The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier's steel-and-concrete bollards in minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques.

After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, creating an adult-size gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by The Washington Post.

The taxpayer-funded barrier — so far coming with a $10 billion price tag — was a central theme of Trump's 2016 campaign, and he has made the project a physical symbol of his presidency, touting its construction progress in speeches, ads and tweets. Trump has increasingly boasted to crowds in recent weeks about the superlative properties of the barrier, calling it "virtually impenetrable" and likening the structure to a "Rolls-Royce" that border crossers cannot get over, under or through.

In other words, no one did any serious pen testing on the wall design, or it would have been obvious that with all that leverage, the top tie-in was easy to flex.


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  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Monday November 04 2019, @06:39PM (5 children)

    by sjames (2882) on Monday November 04 2019, @06:39PM (#915830) Journal

    Yeah, because when's the last time you ever saw a Mexican using a sledge hammer?

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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday November 04 2019, @08:46PM (2 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Monday November 04 2019, @08:46PM (#915913) Homepage Journal

    Far too long ago. I had to do it myself because there aren't any in TN Home Depot parking lots like there are in OK or TX. Apparently so few people in TN want to work that all the illegals here have damned good jobs and don't need to sit in the weather hoping for a day or two of work.

    I shit you not. I had never in my life heard anyone sincerely ask a grown man the question "Do you work?" until I came back to the south from OK. Apparently it's a legitimate and necessary question here.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by sjames on Monday November 04 2019, @09:07PM (1 child)

      by sjames (2882) on Monday November 04 2019, @09:07PM (#915934) Journal

      In Ga, you won't necessarily find Mexicans with sledge hammers at the Home Depot, but you will at a construction project.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 04 2019, @09:35PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 04 2019, @09:35PM (#915948)

    Or tunnels. Its not like the cartels are notorious for digging tunnels [wikipedia.org]. Oh wait...