Vendors Lining Up to Build Trump’s Border Wall

More than 300 vendors from across the country are lining up to bid on the opportunity to build President Donald Trump’s border wall. Just over 300 companies formally expressed interest in the bidding process in the first few days.

Approximately 304 companies from 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico responded to the invitation from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to prepare a bid on a prototype border security wall. The quick response from companies interested in the project came within the first four business days following the issuance of the solicitation, according to information obtained by Breitbart Texas from the General Services Administration.

CBP Public Affairs Spokesman Mike Friel told Breitbart Texas, “We expect a lot of interest.”

“The primary purpose of this effort is to develop design standards for a border wall that may be constructed along the southwest border with Mexico in support of USBP operational requirements,” CBP officials said in a written statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “Any and all prototypes will be designed to deter illegal entry into the United States. Wall design and construction award timelines for prototype construction will be expedited to meet immediate U.S. Border Patrol operational needs.”

The agency officials stated CBP will leverage “years of U.S. Border Patrol’s institutional operational knowledge and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ border infrastructure construction subject matter expertise to “construct a physical wall or similarly contiguous and impassable physical barrier” in the vicinity of the U.S. border with Mexico.”

The invitation to bid appears on the General Services Administration website. The synopsis of the bid request states:

The Dept. of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intends on issuing a solicitation in electronic format on or about March 6, 2017 for the design and build of several prototype wall structures in the vicinity of the United States border with Mexico. The procurement will be conducted in two phases, the first requiring vendors to submit a concept paper of their prototype(s) by March 10, 2017, which will result in the evaluation and down select of offerors by March 20, 2017.  The second phase will require the down select of phase 1 offerors to submit proposals in response to the full RFP by March 24, 2017, which will include price.  Multiple awards are contemplated by mid-April for this effort.  An option for additional miles may be included in each contract award.

Officials stated they are beginning with the prototyping process, an “industry-tested approach to define the best solution when considering a new product or methodology.”

“Through the construction of prototypes, CBP will partner with industry to identify the best means and methods to construct border wall before making a more substantial investment in construction,” CBP officials explained. “The prototypes will inform the final design standard which will likely continue to evolve to meet USBP’s requirements.”

CITILAB stated this project could be one of the biggest contracting opportunities for companies during the Trump Administration. It will eventually lead to the building of the border security wall along much of the nation’s southern border with Mexico.

According to CITILAB:

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.

The list of bidders included at least 38 companies from Texas have requested to bid on the project. California companies made up the second largest number. California’s Lt. Governor, and former San Francisco mayor, Gavin Newsom pledged to use the state’s environmental laws to stop a wall from being built in the Golden State, Breitbart Texas reported in January.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, more than half of Texans polled supported the idea of building a wall along the state’s southern border, Breitbart Texas reported. However, earlier this month, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) claimed support for the wall is actually low among Texans. “I think people would say if you were talking about a physical wall, it would rate very low,” Cornyn told “The Cats Roundtable” radio show’s host John Catsimatidis. “[M]ost people in Texas understand that our 1200-mile border is not the same at every point along the way.”

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with additional information.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.