“Ladders and walls go together like peas and carrots,” explained one McAllen Border Patrol agent.
The typical wall-thwarting strategy along a stretch of the border in the Rio Grand Valley between Granjeno and Hidalgo, Texas, is wooden, about a dozen feet high with only six or so rungs.
“It’s made of cheap, rough wood, quickly nailed together because it is only going to be used once,” local artist and activist Scott Nicol told Texas Monthly. “Unlike the wall, these ladders are functional.” He estimates the materials for the most primitive wooden ladders cost about $5.
Some are higher and have more rungs, while ladders up river may be rope-and-PVC or rusted rebar ladders that hook to the top of the barrier. “Camouflage” rebar ladders blend in with the bollards of the barriers and are often left in place for repeated use, The El Paso Times reported last year. The materials for those ladders also cost about $5.