Construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall will ramp up during summer, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Thursday.
"I think something in the neighborhood of 100 companies from across the nation have shown interest and are starting to put together their prototypes," Kelly told Fox News.
"Of course, contracting is a pretty complicated business in the federal government, unfortunately. Too complicated. But I think by late spring, early summer we'll have some prototypes.
"Then we'll be able to move forward by into the summer," he added. "We won't be able to do it all in one afternoon…. We're going to get at it as quick as we can."
Kelly said the influx of illegal immigrants has slowed and "just in the last 60 to 90 days, the movement of illegal immigrants up from Central America through Mexico has dropped off 70 percent.
"We're at about a 15, 16 year low, and, frankly, we haven't done all that much yet," Kelly said.