Trump wants to build a 9-meter-high wall on the border with Mexico.

The Trump administration wanted to build a 9-meter-high border wall that would be difficult to destroy with hand tools.

US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security on March 17 called on contractors to submit prototypes for a wall to be built on the border with Mexico. The deadline for submissions is March 29, according to AP.

The notice required the wall to be 9 meters high, at least 1.8 meters deep, aesthetically pleasing when viewed from the US side, and equipped with automatic gates for pedestrians and vehicles. Additionally, the CBP document stated that a wall 5.5 meters high might also be acceptable.

The wall had to be built in such a way that it would take an hour to break through it with a sledgehammer, car jack, pickaxe, chisel, battery-powered tool, blowtorch, or similar hand tools.

Trump signed an order to build a wall on the Mexican border in January.

Mr. Trump has said that plans to build a wall on the border with Mexico are progressing ahead of schedule, although it is unclear whether any companies have submitted proposals for the wall yet.

According to an unnamed U.S. government official, an internal report prepared for Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly estimated the cost of building the wall at approximately $21 billion. President Trump has stated he will pressure Mexico to pay for the wall, but Mexico has repeatedly denied doing so.

According to VNE