During his first joint session of Congress address to lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday night, President Donald Trump again called for the funding and building of a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
"We will soon begin the construction of a great wall along our southern border. It will be started ahead of schedule and, when finished, it will be a very effective weapon against drugs and crime," Trump said.
Hundreds of construction companies, including more than a dozen owned by Hispanics, are taking the proposal seriously and bids for the project are pouring in. From Defense One:
Companies from 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have signaled their interest in being selected to work on President Donald Trump’s proposed southern border wall. As of Monday evening, about 180 different firms had answered the federal presolicitation, which the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website on Friday.
Several corporate titans, among them Raytheon, a defense contractor, and Caddell, a construction company with a global portfolio, have expressed preliminary interest in building the wall. Leo A Daly, an international architecture and engineering firm, was one of the more prominent design firms listed. Dozens of companies described themselves as minority owned, veteran owned, or small disadvantaged businesses. Nineteen of the interested vendors are woman-owned companies, and 15 are Hispanic American owned.
Estimates currently tag the wall cost at $10-$15 billion dollars. The good news? Because there is heightened interest, the wall will likely be built for less than originally estimated. A far cry from most big government projects.