The building, located in the city of El Paso, will be 6.5 km long and cost 22 million dollars. It is expected to be completed by April of next yea

The construction of a wall more than 5 meters high on the Mexican border, in a strip of about 6.5 kilometers long, has already begun in El Paso, Texas, announced the authorities of the United States.

"This new wall will be much more resilient and effective in deterring the entry of clandestine (illegal) immigrants," Aaron Hull, head of border police in the El Paso area, was quoted as saying. that exists since the decade of the 70s will be replaced by a wall.

From an estimated cost of 22 million dollars, the wall will be completed next April.

"The existing fence will be removed and a 5.5-meter wall with steel poles will be erected in its place," the text, published Friday by Customs and Border Protection, the customs and border protection service, said.

The agency says that the Mexican territory can "see" through interstices of a few centimeters expected in the construction.

This design was described as "effective for the border police in order to detect clandestine revenues and the smuggling of narcotics to the United States."

The construction of a wall on the entire Mexican border was one of the most controversial campaign promises of now President Donald Trump. The initiative is restrained in Congress, which has aroused angry reactions from the Republican president.