Hastily Built Trump Border Wall in Tatters After Monsoon Rain, Metal Gates Fall off Hinges

Parts of Donald Trump's controversial border wall with Mexico have been severely damaged due to monsoon rainfall in southeast Arizona. The wall is reportedly in severe disrepair.

Videos and photos provided by local environmentalists show the special movable gates placed in the riverbed of Silver Creek in Cochise County, Arizona, did not hold up to several feet of rising water that coursed through the desert borderlands region, according to Border Report.

Historic Flooding

The Tucson Sentinel reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have confirmed "historic" flooding at the nation's border with Mexico is to blame for the destruction. There were images that showed metal gates have fallen off their hinges, leaving gaps in a stretch of the barrier in southern Arizona.

Trump border wall
Damaged sections of the Trump border wall in Arizona due to monsoon storm Twitter grab

A Mighty Wall, Which Would Be Paid for By Mexico

The Mexico–United States barrier also known as the border wall, is a series of vertical barriers along the Mexico–United States border intended to reduce illegal immigration to the United States from Mexico. Trump promised to build the wall as part of his presidential campaign.

Trump insisted the "great wall" he planned for the southern US border, to keep out unwanted migrants, would be "impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful".

The construction began in 2017 but the wall was beset by problems, including lawsuits and cost overruns, reported the Guardian. Funding for the parts of the border wall Trump was able to get built before leaving office in January came from federal monies that included billions of dollars from the Department of Defense, according to the New York Daily News.

However, Joe Biden cancelled the emergency order when he came to power and put a stop to construction.

Rushed Construction of the Wall by Ignoring Environmental Regulations

The wall was built in a rush with critics claiming environmental and cultural protections laws were sidelined, reported the Metro.

Laiken Jordahl, borderlands campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Border Report on Monday: "This was a highly predictable occurrence. The construction of this wall was so ill-advised and ill-conceived and rushed and inflicted a huge amount of damage for a wall that washed away in its first summer."

Social Media Reactions

Many people on the internet slammed Trump for neglecting the environmental impact that emerged due to the wall. There were certain satirical and funny comments too. One Twitter user said, "Wait, trump said it was super-duper strong, even though a little wind and rain knocked it down." Another wrote, "The best wall? How much did taxpayers pay for his grift?"

Some netizens felt the wall should be fixed as soon as possible while some were curious to know the material used for building the wall. Some netizens said that the wall was monumental waste of money, resources, time and effort.

One comment read, "The Wall was always a scam to get HUGE Government contracts. "Scare" the public about immigrants; and convince them they need a wall to keep them out. Contractors get rich and handout kickbacks to politicians."

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