Contractors hired by the Department of Homeland Security have built 426 miles of the border wall and are working around the clock to hit their target of 450 miles by January 1, according to supporters and critics of the barrier.
Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner of President Donald Trump’s Customs and Border Protection agency, announced the programs in a tweet, which also spotlights the political and financial cost of President-elect Joe Biden’s promise to block construction of more border wall:
Opponents of the wall are providing dramatic drone and ground video of the wall’s march along the border:
The critics also provide video of contractors building the wall:
The border wall is being built with automatic gates so that seasonal floods of water and debris can flow through without wrecking the wall:
The contractors have to blast rocks, build roads, and regrade the ground before they can install the border panels:
Portions of the border barrier now have two walls, which dramatically slow migrants trying to reach urban areas or hired smugglers on the U.S. side:
Government agencies and opponents are posting information on the wall’s progress, including the many gaps in Texas that have been kept open by determined Democratic legislators: