The Trump administration this week plans to set up a border camera to stream the construction of the wall President Trump promised in 2016 and that his administration is delivering on.
Under consideration since top aide Jared Kushner first proposed it in November, the “wall cam” will go live some day this week, said an administration official. It will show the construction of the first 164 miles of the complicated border wall.
“People will see that President Trump is coming through on his promises,” said a top aide.
Another added, “This shows 164 miles of promises kept.”
The wall camera will be on the website of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Kushner and his staff, most recently in charge of the president’s effort to find and build ventilators needed for patients with the coronavirus, have been working on the wall camera for months with the CBP and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers building the wall. They have held weekly meetings to get it ready for this week’s debut.
Key issues included making sure the camera did not show proprietary information, technology, and techniques, especially of contractors. Also at issue was the safety of border agents.
As a result, what people will see is a stream of video with the concerning shots edited out. It will also be from construction taken during daylight hours.
It will be on a loop showing the last 30 days of construction from various sections of the wall.
The administration has built some 164 new miles of border wall, most in areas where the old wall was ineffective. It plans to add another 300 miles this year. The CBP this week said in a fact sheet that it expects to spend $15 billion on 731 total miles.
The wall is one of the president’s top priorities and promises made during the campaign. At recent rallies, supporters still chant, “Build the wall,” and Trump and Kushner were keen on showing the public that construction was taking place.
Author: Paul Bedard
Source: Washington Examiner: Border wall construction ‘cam’ live this week: ‘164 miles of promises kept’
