Feds Grant Contract to Build 4 Miles of New Texas Border Wall

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials announced a contract to build four new miles of border wall barrier in South Texas.

CBP officials announced on June 27 the award of a contract in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to build approximately four miles of new border barrier segments, according to information obtained from CBP officials on Thursday.

The plan, according to the released statement, is to build four segments of border barrier totaling approximately four miles in length. The new construction project will be located south of Rio Grande City and La Grulla, Texas. These border towns are located in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. This sector is historically the busiest of the nine southwest Border Patrol sectors.

Southwest Valley Constructors won the awarded contract valued at approximately $33,048,700. The company is authorized to begin construction of the new border barriers in November 2019.

Officials report the construction will be 18-30 foot tall bollards. The contract also calls for new road construction to give Border Patrol agents ready access to the wall. The contract also calls for the installation of new detection and lighting technology.

CBP officials specified the funds for this contract come from its regular FY 2019 budget. The funds are not pursuant to President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration. The funds are also not being diverted from any other source of funding, including the Department of Defense or Treasury.

“RGV is the busiest Sector in the nation and accounts for more than 40% of the illegal alien apprehensions, more than 43% of the seized marijuana in the southwest border for the fiscal year to date, and is second in seized cocaine,” CBP officials stated. “RGV accounts for a large percentage of the southwest border illegal alien apprehensions and narcotic seizures and the majority of its activity is occurring in areas where RGV has limited infrastructure, access and mobility, and technology.”

CBP officials also emphasized that the new construction will not be located on any of the communities that require additional consultation with Starr County elected officials as specified in the FY 2019 appropriations bill.