I-Team Investigation: border wall security
Securing the southern border is a big priority for President Trump and he’s talked often about his plans to build a wall. It’s an issue that hits close to home here in the Coachella Valley.
Calexico is just 97 miles south of Indio.
News Channel 3’s John White toured part of the border with El Centro Sector Border Patrol Agent Alessio Faccin.
The tour started about 20 miles west of Calexico where the border is protected by Normandy-style barriers fashioned out of old railroad tracks. Anyone can walk through them but they stop vehicle traffic from crossing the border.
Agent Faccin says agents are on duty around the clock, constantly patrolling the area that also is protected by the All-American Canal in some areas, which adds another defense.
As the tour proceeds to Calexico, we come across the New River where there’s a small gap in the fence, which creates an opportunity for people to float into the United States.
The river is heavily polluted.
Agent Faccin says, “We agents won’t go into the water, however, illegals will come in through the New River and try to make their way north.” Some have been found as far north as Brawley.
Our tour continued into the heart of Calexico, where the barrier is a tall fence. In town, agents are stationed in cars just a couple of hundred yards apart and it can be a difficult duty.
“They’ll try to distract you, stop you from getting out of their vehicles. They’ll try to hurt you,” Faccin says.
Border patrol cars are protected by metal mesh coverings over the windows because people will throw rocks at them from Mexico.
Most of the fence along 77 miles of border in the El Centro Sector was built after President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act into law in 2006. Faccin says it’s making a difference.
The numbers show apprehensions are down dramatically in the El Centro sector, from 61,465 in 2006 to 12,820 in 2015.
Along with the additional barriers that were added, there was also a dramatic increase in the number of agents, with about 200 being added in the El Centro sector over the past 10 years.
People we talked to in Calexico don’t support building a wall, calling the $21 billion price tag a waste of money.
Agent Faccin won’t discuss the political issues but says there’s evidence the fence is working.
