CBP Awards $70 Million Contract for Border Wall Construction
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has awarded the first border wall contract of President Donald Trump’s second term, granting a $70 million contract to Granite Construction Co. to extend the US-Mexico border wall.
The California-based company will construct approximately seven miles of new border wall in Hidalgo County, Texas. The project is funded by CBP’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget, with the agency stating that the construction will “close critical openings in the border wall that were left incomplete due to cancelled contracts during the Biden Administration.”
The construction will take place in the US Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector in Texas, an area CBP described as experiencing high levels of illegal entry and drug smuggling into the country.
“Completing the border wall in these locations will support the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug- and human-smuggling activities of cartels,” CBP said in a press release.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the project in a social media post over the weekend, announcing that “seven more miles of wall” are being built. She shared a video of herself at the border, stating, “Everybody, I’m here in Arizona, and right at this spot you can see where the border wall ends. As of today, we’re starting seven new miles of construction. We’re going to continue to make America safe again.”
The move comes as President Trump has implemented a number of executive orders related to border security, including “Securing Our Borders” and “Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States.” These orders direct the DHS secretary to take actions to deploy and construct physical barriers to achieve complete operational control of the border.
