(Washington) The American Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, announced Tuesday that the entire southern border wall with Mexico would be painted in black in order to make it warmer and dissuade clandestine immigration. She attributed this idea to President Donald Trump.
Mme Noem spoke during a visit to a part of the wall at the New Mexico, where she also took a roll to help paint.
It praised the height and the width of the wall as means of detering people seeking to pass over or below. She then announced that interior security was going to test the black paint to make the metal warmer.
Photo Alex Brandon, Reuters archives
US Interior Security Secretary Kristi Noem
“It is precisely at the request of the president, who understands that, by the hot weather here, when an object is painted in black, it becomes even warmer and it will be even more difficult to climb it. We will therefore paint the entire southern border wall in black in order to discourage people to illegally enter our country, ”said Mr.me Noem.
Mike Banks, head of the American border police, present by his side, added that painting would also help prevent rust.
During Mr. Trump’s first term, the construction of the wall was at the heart of his immigration policy. Since his second term, his program of massive evictions, with arrests within the country, has been at the heart of his concerns.
The Department of Internal Security will receive around 46 billion US to complete the wall, as part of a new funding voted by the Congress this summer.
Mme Noem said that around 800 meters of barrier were built every day.
“The border wall will have a very different appearance depending on the topography and geography of the place where it will be built,” she said.
She added that in addition to the barriers like the one she visited on Tuesday, the ministry is also working on “river infrastructure”. Long border sections of around 3,200 kilometers between the United States and Mexico run along the Rio Grande, Texas.
The Trump administration continues the completion of the wall even though the number of people illegally crossing the border has dropped.
