'Busiest sector' of Texas border to get wall in 2020

FPI / October 1, 2019

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Army Corps of Engineers have awarded three contracts to build up to 65 miles of border wall along the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) region in Texas.

Construction on the new wall sections will begin in early 2020 in Hidalgo, Starr, and Cameron Counties in Texas, according to a Sept. 30 press release by CBP.

CBP noted that the area of new border wall construction is a hotspot for illegal immigration and drug-smuggling.

“RGV is the busiest Sector in the nation and accounts for approximately 40 percent of the illegal alien apprehensions and, for the FY to date, ranks first in seized cocaine and marijuana along the southwest border. The majority of its activity is occurring in areas where RGV has limited infrastructure, access and mobility, and technology,” the CBP release said.

Unlike past projects, the early 2020 construction in Texas will take place in areas where no barriers already exist, CBP said.

The structures will include 18- to 30-foot-high steel bollard wall, enforcement cameras, and other technology, the CBP release said.

According to the press release, a contract to build roughly 21 miles of new border wall in Starr County was awarded to Southern Border Constructors. The same company was also given a contract to build approximately 22 miles of walls in Starr and Hidalgo Counties.

CBP also awarded a contract to Gibraltar-Caddell Joint Venture to build about 22 miles of border wall within Cameron and Hidalgo Counties.

The total value of the contracts was over $812 million, CBP said.

“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,” the release said.

Free Press International