A solar-paneled addition to the border wall is a possibility that President Donald Trump's administration could look into, according to Mario Villarreal, a senior Customs and Border Protection official.
"We are certainly looking for different methods and ways to make this better. Solar panels or technology bundles on top of the fence certainly isn't off the table," Villarreal said in a Wednesday interview, the Washington Examiner reported.
Villarreal, the San Diego field office division chief for Customs and Border Protection, helps manage 2,200 border patrol agents along the U.S.' southern border. Near San Diego's secondary border barrier, contractors are building prototypes for the barriers.
"We're excited to see the industry come up with new, innovative, and creative ideas in the form of border wall prototypes," Villarreal told the Examiner.
The official praised the technological advances at the border patrol, noting that agents used to have to carry cellphones in portable boxes, but now they essentially have handheld computers with high-resolution cameras, he said.
In San Diego, the current wall could be easily climbable in its highest 10-foot areas, said Ralph DeSio, Customs and Border Protection public affairs specialist. "The corrugated landing mat almost gives you a foothold to climb it. People set up ramps, ladders, ropes, you name it," DeSio said.
The companies who were awarded the contracts for wall prototypes have an Oct. 26 deadline to finish their work before examination by border officials, the Examiner reported.
"The anti-climbing will be key, as well as the durability (and) sustainability of the prototypes," Villarreal said.
Senate Republicans have drafted a Homeland Security spending bill that contains the $1.6 billion that Trump wants for the border wall, Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said Tuesday.
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