Posted on June 17, 2019

DHS: 2 Miles of Border Wall Being Constructed Every Week

Charlotte Cuthbertson, Epoch Times, June 13, 2019

About two miles of border wall are being built per week right now, according to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan.

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New and replacement wall is currently being constructed near San Diego, as well as San Luis, Arizona, and El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Ground excavation is underway in Otay Mesa in the San Diego Sector, CBP said on June 11. The 14 miles of new wall will act as a secondary barrier. It will be 30 feet high and “will be outfitted with smart detection technology that keeps Border Patrol agents safe while deterring illicit cross-border activity,” CBP wrote on Twitter.

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A total of 44 miles of steel bollard pedestrian barrier is to replace ineffective fencing in the Yuma, El Centro, and San Diego sectors.

And in the Rio Grande Valley — where the river, and its propensity to flood, causes additional challenges for fencing options — the focus is on levee walls that will double as border barrier, as well as gates to close gaps in existing fencing.

Construction started on April 4 for a new, 13-mile stretch of levee wall in Hidalgo County, about a mile north of the Rio Grande.

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A 2.25-mile replacement border wall was constructed near Calexico, California, last year — the first new construction under Trump.

The majority of the new wall is augmenting existing barrier or replacing existing, unsuitable wall, such as that made from recycled scraps of metal and old landing mat built in the 1990s.

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All new border-wall construction comes with all-weather roads, lighting, enforcement cameras, and other related technology.

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