Trump administration sends troops to US-Mexico border to paint the wall

Senator Dick Durbin said 'our military has more important work to do than making Trump’s wall beautiful'

(AP)

As part of the initiative to build Donald Trump’s US-Mexico border wall, the Trump Administration has deployed members of the military stationed near the border to paint a mile-long portion of the wall in an attempt to improve the “aesthetic appearance”.

Policymakers were notified via an email from the Department of Homeland Security.

The email, obtained by CBS, detailed how an unspecified number of troops were sent to the border town of Calexico, California, for 30 days.

“While the primary purpose is to improve the aesthetic appearance of the wall, there may also be an operational benefit based on our experience with painted barrier in Nogales, Arizona,” the email read.

The department of homeland security made the claim that the painting of border barriers in Tucson, Arizona, had allowed border patrol agents to combat the “camouflaging tactics of illegal border crossers” who aimed to cross undetected.

DHS also claimed said migrants appeared to have “greater difficulty” scaling the painted installations.

Illinois senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, tweeted his disapproval of initiative, writing: “DHS informed Congress today that troops are going to spend the next month painting the border wall & 'the primary purpose is to improve the aesthetic appearance'. A disgraceful misuse of taxpayer $$.”

“Our military has more important work to do than making Trump’s wall beautiful.”