President Trump reiterated his call for a border wall Tuesday during his first address to a joint session of Congress, saying that the “construction of a great wall along our southern border” will soon begin.
“It will be a very effective weapon against drugs and crime,” he added.
One Mexican lawmaker disagrees—and set out to prove to the president that his wall won’t work as planned.
Tweeting out photos of himself atop a 30-foot border fence, Mexican congressman Braulio Guerra said he “was able to scale it, climb it, and sit myself right here.”
“It would be simple for me to jump into the United States, which shows that it is unnecessary and totally absurd to build a wall,” he said in a video.
Escalé el Muro con EEUU. Mira @realDonaldTrump lo absurdo e innecesario el gasto en este proyecto que agravia y daña nuestra buena vecindad. pic.twitter.com/K2S5RI8a0d
— Braulio Guerra (@BraulioPRI) March 2, 2017
Sencillo subir al #Muro pero son muchos los peligros para nuestra gente. Derechos Humanos, principios y dignidad son innegociables #México???? pic.twitter.com/9PExn3RlnV
— Braulio Guerra (@BraulioPRI) March 2, 2017
Trump has argued that a border fence isn’t sufficient, and that he plans to build a solid wall.
“It's going to be made of hardened concrete, and it's going to be made out of rebar, and steel," Trump said at a December 2015 rally.
And at a news conference in January, when a reporter asked about the fence, he shot back, "On the fence—it's not a fence. It's a wall. You just misreported it. We're going to build a wall."
The Department of Homeland Security has only found $20 million in existing funds that can be redirected to the construction of a border wall, however.