By Dan Frosch and Andrew Tangel
More than 200 companies have expressed interest in submitting
plans to help design and build a wall along the U.S. border with
Mexico, as the Trump administration seeks to fulfill a key campaign
promise despite significant obstacles.
The companies, whose names were published on a federal
contracting website, vary widely in size and capability -- from
construction giants like Kiewit Corp. to smaller, family-owned
businesses.
Among those interested at this early stage are more than three
dozen businesses owned by minorities, a Wall Street Journal
analysis shows. Roughly 13% of the companies expected to submit
proposals for the wall, for example, are owned by Hispanics.
This week, the federal government extended a Wednesday deadline
to submit preliminary pitches for the wall until April 4 because
many companies had questions about the project, according to U.S.
Customs and Border Protection, the agency overseeing the
bidding.
While some businesses were scrambling to finish their proposals,
others that indicated interest are simply tracking the project and
may not follow through. Still other companies are subcontractors
who listed themselves because they want to be hired by a winning
bidder.
Close to half of the potential bidders are located in border
states, including nearly 50 in California, whose political leaders
are fighting the wall. One bidder auspiciously bears the name of
Roman emperor and famous wall-builder Hadrian.
Among the businesses signaling interest are also several major
construction companies with past ties to President Donald Trump,
who spent decades working with the construction industry as a
real-estate developer.
The hustle to submit applications came in response to requests
for proposals posted online by U.S. Customs Border and Protection
on March 17. The agency called for two designs for a wall
"physically imposing in height" -- one made of concrete and one of
alternative material -- to be built across the nearly 2,000-mile
border.
Despite substantial legal and logistical hurdles, and the risks
of taking on a politically divisive project, the wall has drawn at
least preliminary consideration from all corners of the building
industry -- even unexpected ones.
Mario Burgos, the son of an immigrant, owns an Albuquerque,
N.M., construction logistics company and plans to submit a
proposal. He said he viewed the project as more geared toward
border security than immigration, and a surefire way to boost
employment in job-strapped New Mexico.
"I am not against immigrants by any stretch of the imagination,"
said Mr. Burgos, whose father came to the U.S. from Ecuador. "There
isn't a country in the world that doesn't have borders and doesn't
want to enforce them."
Mr. Burgos noted that his company, Burgos Group LLC, which holds
various defense contracts with federal agencies, has handled
projects in southern New Mexico near the border and was familiar
with operating in remote, rugged locations.
Many interested companies on the list of possible bidders didn't
return requests for comment.
Several companies expected to submit proposals, such as Kiewit,
helped erect some of the roughly 650 miles of fencing that already
snakes across the border. A Kiewit spokesman said the company
doesn't publicly discuss plans to pursue or forgo such
projects.
Other interested businesses have niche specialties, like
Leesburg, Va.-based Helix Steel. Chief Executive Chris Doran said
Helix's products, which make concrete more resistant to blasts and
other stresses, would suit what he called a "massive
opportunity."
Mr. Doran, whose company has about 50 employees, said he wasn't
concerned with fallout from participating in the project. "All I
can say is I'm fighting for American jobs, and if fighting for
American jobs is wrong, I'll take that risk," he said.
Construction giant Tutor Perini Corp., a Sylmar, Calif.-based
company whose projects include building a Long Island Rail Road
station under Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, has indicated
its interest in a potential bid.
The company was also the general contractor on Mr. Trump's hotel
and condominium tower in Las Vegas, which opened in 2008, and has
constructed other major projects in Las Vegas.
Representatives of Tutor Perini didn't respond to requests for
comment.
This stage of the government contracting process requires
companies to submit their qualifications and concepts for the wall,
but not detailed renderings.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said companies must design a
wall that is at least 18 feet high and fashioned with anticlimbing
devices. According to agency documents, submissions will be
winnowed down to as many as 20 finalists, which will be asked to
provide more extensive plans. Some will eventually be selected to
assemble prototypes in San Diego for review.
A spokesman for the agency said it would review the proposals
and release more information on the bidding process as it
continues.
The project's prospects are uncertain, however. In budget
requests to Congress this month, Mr. Trump asked for $4 billion to
begin planning and building the wall, a fraction of the $21 billion
that one internal Department of Homeland Security report estimated
would be needed.
However, senior Republicans suggested Tuesday that they may pass
a spending bill needed to avoid a government shutdown at the end of
April without funding for the wall.
Some major companies opted to skip the bidding process
altogether. Executives cited the public outcry surrounding the
wall, or said the project didn't fit their expertise.
An executive at a major American construction company that
didn't want to be named said the company wouldn't bid on the wall
because it feared involvement could hurt its significant
international business, especially in Mexico.
Even considering the project caused internal unrest, this
executive said. Employees opposed to the company's participation
began circulating an internal petition, followed by another by a
smaller group of employees in favor of bidding. "It was too
explosive for us," the executive said.
The administration's push to build the barrier has spurred
recent efforts by some local Democratic lawmakers to penalize
companies who participate in the project. Those efforts have been
focused in California, which, along with Texas, has by far the most
companies that want to help build the wall.
A bill introduced by state Sen. Ricardo Lara would prevent
California from contracting with companies that work on the wall in
that state. Another measure sponsored by Democratic legislators
would require California's public employee retirement system and
its teachers' retirement system, the nation's two largest pension
funds, to liquidate any investments in companies working on the
wall.
Last week, three San Francisco supervisors introduced
legislation barring the city from contracting with companies that
bid to work on the wall.
One Carlsbad, Calif., company said its intention to submit a
plan for the wall had nothing to do with ill will toward
immigrants. Hadrian Construction Co. owner Rod Hadrian said he
employs Mexican immigrants and his main goal was to promote a
prefabricated product he believes will create a wall that is
cheaper and easier to install in remote border areas.
"I'm not trying to build a wall to keep the Mexicans out of
here," Mr. Hadrian said.
For Patrick Balcazar, a veteran and former Army Corps of
Engineers officer who owns San Diego Project Management PSC in
Puerto Rico, the notion of a wall between countries isn't something
he agrees with. But Mr. Balcazar, who has roots in Mexico and
Ecuador, where he says his German Jewish family fled just before
World War II, said the project could be a much needed boon for the
economically depressed island.
"For us, it's work. We're in a recession in Puerto Rico," said
Mr. Balcazar, whose company holds various federal contracts.
Mr. Balcazar has been working late nights, summoning his
experience with battlefield operations to craft a design he plans
to submit.
"If we have to build this thing, let's build it right. Let's
stop the bad guys and take care of the poor people who are caught
in this mess," he said. "And then, let's tear it down."
--Alexandra Berzon, Taylor Umlauf and Shane Shifflett
contributed to this article.
Write to Dan Frosch at dan.frosch@wsj.com and Andrew Tangel at
Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 29, 2017 12:46 ET (16:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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