The border the U.S. shares with Mexico is about 2,000 miles long. A border wall of different types of fence spans about 670 miles. Lawmakers hope to add 700 more miles,
according to NBC News.
Barriers placed along the U.S.-Mexico border "vary greatly,"
according to USBorderPatrol.com.
"In the urban areas these barriers may be doubled to include a ‘Secondary’ barrier with a ‘No Man's Land’ between. In some of the more violent areas populated by violent gangs or drug cartels, the barrier has been improved with a third obstacle -- usually another fence," the website said, which is maintained by supporters of the U.S. Border Patrol.
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Primary borders between the U.S. and Mexico are protected by many types of barrier. In some areas, there is nothing. In other places materials range from three-wire cattle fence, railroad rail, concrete filled thin wall with six-inch steel tube of staggered height, corrugated steel plates, square tubing, or even crushed cars, USBorderPatrol.com said.
Secondary borders, which are in place in some border areas, but not all, include: climb-proof expanded metal fence, climb-proof chain-link fence, or concrete column or bollard barrier.
NBC News reported that Customs and Border Protection spent $2.4 billion completing 670 miles of border fence from 2006 to 2009.
Of that fencing, "the vast majority of that was single-layer — one line of fencing designed to keep either pedestrians or vehicles from crossing into the United States, according to a Government Accountability Office report."
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Adding onto the border wall — as a part of immigration reform strategies — has become a hot topic in the early 2016 presidential race.
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