Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) admitted that President Donald Trump’s likely to get his wall, after all.
In recent days, Trump has agreed to shift his proposal from a concrete wall to a “steel slat” wall: essentially, a row of closely-placed steel spikes that would allow small animals and light to pass between, but not people.
Coons admitted that the “difference in technology” represented “a minor but important” possible solution to solve the partial government shutdown.
“A fourth century concrete wall that you can’t see through will be a less effective border barrier,” Coons said.
“I am someone who is willing to see more border fencing as long as we choose a technology that DHS says is going to be effective and I do think his moving towards steel slats rather than concrete wall, if it holds, is important,” he added.
One of Trump’s signature 2016 campaign issues was building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to curb illegal immigration. In the past, he’s generally been non-specific when explaining exactly what the wall would look like, instead preferring to leave it up to engineers and the Department of Homeland Security.
Most recently, Trump has introduced the steel slats as a kind of compromise–so the border barrier can still be built, but Democrats can save face by technically stopping Trump from building a concrete wall. The plan could also be built substantially quicker and cheaper than a concrete wall.
However, despite strong movement, both sides remain entrenched–and, if the government shutdown continues through Saturday, it’ll be the longest in history.