WASHINGTON, D.C. – Department of Homeland Security announced this week that “walls work” and miles of new barrier are being erected on the Southern U.S. border right now.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement the agency is committed to building a wall at our southern border and building a wall quickly. Under President Trump, “we are building a new wall for the first time in a decade that is 30-feet high to prevent illegal entry and drug smuggling. Prior to President Trump taking office, we have never built a border wall that high.”
Once funding was provided, DHS began construction of border a wall quickly, in some locations in as little as nine months from funding to building – a process that commonly takes two years or more in other parts of Government. By the end of FY 2019, DHS expects to have construction completed or underway for more than 120 miles in the areas it’s most needed by the U.S. Border Patrol. The pace of construction has picked up as initial limiting factors like land acquisition and funding have been addressed.
(DHS image)
In FY 2017 Congress provided DHS $292 million to build 40 miles of a steel bollard wall in the San Diego, El Centro and El Paso Sectors – Border Patrol’s highest priority locations – in place of an outdated and operationally ineffective barrier. DHS received its FY17 funding for border wall construction in May 2017. DHS awarded the first contract against that funding in November 2017 and began construction three months later in February 2018. As of November 21, 2018, CBP has constructed more than 31 of the 40 miles with the remaining 9 miles scheduled for completion by early 2019.
According to DHS, “On Sunday, when a violent mob of 1,000 people stormed our Southern border, we found the newly constructed portions of the wall to be very effective. In the area of the breach, a group of people tore a hole in the old landing mat fence constructed decades ago and pushed across the border. U.S. Border Patrol agents who responded to the area ultimately dispersed the crowd, which had become assaultive, and apprehended several individuals. All of the individuals were either apprehended or retreated into Mexico. That evening, the fence was repaired. There were no breaches along the newly constructed border wall areas.
In FY18, Congress provided $1.375B for border wall construction which equates to approximately 84 miles of border wall in multiple locations across the Southwest border. When combined with the funds provided in FY 2017 and FY 2018, if funded at $5B in FY 2019 DHS expects to construct more than 330 miles of border wall in the U.S. Border Patrol’s highest priority locations across the Southwest border.
DHS says it is positioned to construct 215 miles of Border Patrol’s highest priority border wall miles.
