Donald Trump has had a lot to say about how his precious border wall is “being built.” But back in May, he kinda sorta admitted the reality: No new wall has gone up, if by “new wall” you mean wall in places where there wasn’t anything before. “Much of the Wall being built at the Southern Border is a complete demolition and rebuilding of old and worthless barriers with a brand new Wall and footings,” he tweeted. “Problem is, the Haters say that is not a new Wall, but rather a renovation. Wrong, and we must build where most needed....” Yeah. Right. Again: No new wall has gone up.
Axios has the details. According to an unnamed Department of Homeland Security official, more than 60 miles of replacement barrier has gone up, and they’re working on 124 miles more of replacement of existing fences and barriers. But! “DHS has been referring to replacement wall as ‘new,’ but to date, not a single mile of wall has been built where no barrier previously existed. The official did not provide an answer when asked when the first section of ‘new’ wall would be built.”
Make no mistake, the Trump administration is succeeding at making the border with Mexico terrible in all kinds of ways, and it’s wasting piles of money on these replacement barriers. But when they tell you “new” wall is being built, that doesn’t mean more wall.