Biden Admin Begins Border Barrier Upgrade, Replacement Projects

The Biden Administration recently announced plans to begin limited construction of barriers and gates along the U.S.-Mexico Border. The plans call for projects that include new and replacement components to come from Trump-era allotments.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz tweeted a list of border barrier projects recently approved by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Mayorkas ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection to move ahead with multiple border barrier construction projects in the San Diego, El Centro, Yuma, El Paso, and Rio Grande Valley Sectors. The alleged purposes of the projects are to “address life, safety, environmental, or other remediation requirements in accordance with the Department’s plan for the use of border barrier funds.”

Some of the projects will replace existing border infrastructure that is outdated or decaying. Others provide new barrier walls and gates.

Officials say the projects include:

• Replacing an existing dilapidated train gate with a modernized train gate in El Centro to address current life and safety risks posed to Agents and migrants due to regular train operations.

• Constructing retractable gates underneath an existing bridge across the New River in Imperial County, California to address risks associated with the extremely hazardous river waters.
• Constructing a train and vehicle gate in the El Paso Sector to address current life and safety risks posed to Agents and migrants due to regular train operations.
• Replacing deteriorated barrier located adjacent to Friendship Circle in Imperial Beach, California that has not been properly treated to withstand corrosion from nearby ocean waters and currently poses safety risks to Border Patrol Agents, community members, and migrants.
• Closing a gap by constructing a vertical lift gate system over the Tijuana River to address safety concerns resulting from the polluted conditions of the river channel.
• Closing a small gap in the Yuma Sector that remains as a result of previous border barrier construction activities and poses a life and safety risk to Agents and the community.

• Completing 17 gates and conducting site clean-up work in the Rio Grande Valley Sector that currently makes it difficult for Border Patrol Agents to efficiently access certain areas and for first responders to respond to incidents.

Funding for the projects is slated to come from authorizations provided by Congress during the Trump administration — specifically the FY 17, 18, and 21 budget years. Projects are slated to “begin quickly,” DHS officials stated.

“DHS continues to review other paused border barrier projects presenting life, safety, environmental, or other remediation needs and has begun environmental planning, to include planning consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for not yet completed projects in accordance with the Department’s plan,” the statement concludes. “DHS also continues to assess how to best utilize the previously appropriated barrier system funding, including whether those funds would be most effective if used in certain locations to install barrier system attributes.”