The Wall: More than 181 miles completed
Border security is national security. Now with the global pandemic, we see more than ever the need for our border wall system to stop illegal migration & smuggling. More than 181 miles completed, Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan
15 May: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a waiver, which will ensure expeditious construction of approximately 69 miles of new border wall system in locations where no barriers currently exist within the U.S. Border Patrol’s Laredo Sector in Webb and Zapata Counties, Texas.
The waiver was published in the Federal Register on May 15, 2020. These projects are funded by U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s (CBP) Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations.
The Laredo Sector is an area of high illegal activity, with over 21,000 illegal alien apprehensions and over 19,000 pounds of drugs seized this FY to date. The majority of its activity is occurring in areas where Laredo Sector lacks infrastructure, access and mobility, and technology. These projects will improve Laredo Sector’s ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug and human smuggling activities of transnational criminal organizations.
DHS/CBP remains committed to protection of the nation’s important natural and cultural resources. DHS/CBP has been, and will continue coordinating and consulting with other federal, state, and local resource agencies and other interested stakeholders to ensure that potential impacts to the environment, wildlife, and cultural and historic resources are analyzed and minimized, to the greatest extent possible.
1May: The final panel was installed for approximately 15 miles of new border wall system in the U.S. Border Patrol’s (USBP) El Centro Sector.
The project is the first to be completed using DoD 10 U.S.C. § 284 counter-narcotics funding. This project includes the construction of 30 foot tall steel bollards, in place of outdated vehicle barrier, along with new and improved roads, lighting and other detection technology to provide agents with the ability to safely and effectively respond to illicit cross border activity.
“This 15 mile section of border wall system in El Centro Sector will provide much needed infrastructure to help USBP agents secure the border,” said U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott.
The El Centro Sector is an area of high illegal activity, with large numbers of individuals and narcotics being smuggled into the country illegally. The construction of border wall system in this area supports CBP’s ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings.
CBP continues to implement President Trump’s Executive Order 13767 – also known as Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements – taking steps to expeditiously plan, design, and construct a physical wall using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve operational control of the southern border.