Fox News reports that breach testing of the border wall prototypes was a success. Special Ops soldiers attempted to climb them but only one person was able to climb to the top and he had to be lowered down with a cherry picker:

The wall will be based on the eight prototypes recently constructed outside San Diego. The models recently underwent rigorous testing by special operation teams from El Paso and Florida. According to those familiar with the tests, the walls withstood cutting torches, jackhammers and concrete saws better than anything currently on the border, and were almost impossible to climb, thanks to anti-climbing and anti-perching features. “I can’t talk about it,” said a DHS official in Washington. “But the walls were so high we had to suspend testing. It was unsafe. Out of dozens and attempts, one guy made it to the top but he couldn’t get down. We had to bring him down with cherry picker.”… Agents are the first to admit no wall is impassable, but a more robust border will reduce illegal traffic, turning back some while forcing others to attempt passage by means. “Will they scale over it and tunnel under it? Yes,” [former Border Patrol rescue team director Pete] Hermansen said. “But if you discourage people as much as you can at the outset, you are dealing with a much smaller population that you have to push with technology, manpower and other assets.”

The final report on the 8 prototypes won’t be released for a couple more months but agents tell Fox News they prefer the bollard design which allows agents to see through the barrier and keep an eye on what is happening on the other side. Whichever barrier is selected, it would likely only be used in dense urban areas. In less populated areas, other technological means (cameras, sensors, etc.) will be more appropriate. The main point of this report is that a wall/fencing does work to sharply reduce the number of people sneaking across:

So is it going to happen? Will Democrats agree to a deal in exchange for a permanent DACA fix as the White House has proposed? Today Nancy Pelosi indicated money for the wall was not a deal-breaker, at least not for Democrats in the House, though she added that placing a wall through populated areas along the border was “almost immoral.”

I think Democrats are aware at this point that it will take several years to complete hundreds of miles of wall/fencing. They clearly hope to be back in charge of the purse-strings before that happens. And you can bet that one of their first priorities will be cutting off further funds for this project. I think that’s the plan here. Agree to the permanent DACA fix now and claw back the wall money later.