North Texas contractors are among hundreds submitting proposals to build President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.
John P. Garrett runs JP Construction of Fort Worth. He’s currently a subcontractor doing ground work on a Fort Worth warehouse project.
Garrett said his experience with excavation and erecting prefabricated concrete walls would be useful for building a border wall.
“I would do a lot of the excavating work,” Garrett said. “The wall is going to be six to 10 feet deep underground, so I would have a big part in that.”
The small businessman said he is not concerned about the controversy wall contractors have been warned to expect if they are selected to work on this project.
“This is one of the biggest projects in the United States, so I just want to be part of that,” Garrett said.
Specifications from the government released Friday call for a barrier up to 30 feet high, with a tunneling barrier at least six feet below ground, able to withstand 30 minutes of attack.
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“And it has to be something that’s aesthetically pleasing,” said Michael Evangelista-Ysasaga, Chief Executive Officer of the Penna Group in Fort Worth. “Trump said he wants a big beautiful wall. We take him at his word,”
As the Hispanic leader of defense contracting firm, Evangelista-Ysasaga said submitting a proposal for a wall was a difficult decision after seeing some proposals like electrified fences, which he considers inhumane.
“What we decided was that we would rather be a productive part of the solution than sit on the sidelines,” he said. “It’s the biggest project on the planet at this point.”
There is still strong opposition to the project and nothing is final at this point.
The estimated cost is more than $21 billion.
