Fence to protect America turns out to be Made in China

Here's a story that seems a little strange on the surface. The Congressional Steel Caucus, made up of members from steel-making districts, is charging that the new fence going up to protect the United States' southern border from illegal foreigners is being constructed with foreign-made steel.

Chinese steel, to be exact.

"It's outrageous, offensive and unacceptable," Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire tells NBC's Mike Viqueira.

The Congress members say they were tipped off to the foreign-made steel by outraged American union workers and have confirmed with the Department of Homeland Security that specific Buy American provisions written into the law authorizing the fence were waived by the department.

San Diego Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, who's also running for the GOP presidential nomination and is a frequent critic of Chinese trade policies toward American goods, noted that of the 854 miles of barriers that Congress authorized last year, only 70 miles of single fencing and five miles of double-fencing have gone up.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Michael]

Well, who better to build a "Great Wall of America" than the Chinese?