The 654 miles of fence already lining the border between the US and Mexico have already been breached more than 9,200 times between roughly 2010 and 2015, according to a report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) citing records from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
As plans to develop a full-border wall between the two countries are developed, new figures show that even when in place the costly development may not even be that effective.
Donald Trump’s Mexico wall could cost taxpayers $21.6 billion, a report from the US Department of Homeland Security revealed, which equates to $170 per American family.
When it is complete it will run for almost 2,000 miles.
The recent GAO report does not conclude fencing has proved ineffective — rather, it states CBP has not implemented a way to measure the effectiveness of the current fence on slowing down illegal entries.
Border Patrol officials interviewed by the GAO said fencing helps divert illegal border-crossings away from urban areas and into rural areas where agents can more readily respond.
But officials also said smugglers and others can breach border fences by simply cutting through or finding ways over or under them.