Design

President Trump's Border Wall Won't Be a Wall

The latest twist in the Homeland Security solicitation for a border wall: It doesn’t need to be a wall.
Demonstrators attend a rally where New York City Public Advocate Letitia James announced her plans to research divestment as a consequence for companies who participate in building President Donald Trump's border wall with Mexico.Mike Segar/Reuters

The federal government has once again extended its timeline for accepting bids to design and build a prototype for the border wall with Mexico. The latest update to the federal presolicitation, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection first released back in February, marks a change in course for the project as well.

The updated notice indicates some mission drift at the Department of Homeland Security. Now, the agency is asking for two designs: one for a wall, and one for not-a-wall.