With appreciation of Jerry Blodgett’s letter of Jan. 19 concerning the border wall, I would add that the wall is a Donald Trump-backed boondoggle.

By roadway the distance between Brownsville, Texas, and San Diego, California, is about 1,500 miles. Using that figure, Trump’s $5.7 billion wall would cost nearly $4 million per mile.

Since not every one of those 1,500 miles requires a new wall, the cost per mile soars. Using Mr. Blodgett’s “less than 250 miles” figure, the per-mile cost is closer to $23 million per mile!

Whichever figures are used, surely that money can be better utilized on real border security.

John Ferry

Portland