New border wall construction in Arizona is set to launch sometime next month, picking up in some of the places where President Biden early in his administration suspended such work.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has announced that it plans to “finish drainages and low-water crossings in southern Arizona and in some cases re-engineer border wall designs to allow for water flow.”
Border wall work, which was originally advanced by President Trump, may also soon be seen in California, New Mexico, and Texas.
The decision to resume the work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, notes the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, makes clear that the Army Corp’s “career staff was committed to continuing construction of Trump’s border wall.”
The new work will be designed to both repair existing gates and roads, as well as filling gaps in the wall left intact after the Biden Administration paused the overall project.
As expected, the work will primarily focus on the border within the Sonoran Desert.
Although new construction at the border has been curtailed since President Biden’s initial announcement, work of a different fashion in the area has seen the installation of some 130 shipping containers, making up 3,820 feet, undertaken by the State of Arizona.
That project saw the placing of those containers, with a cumulative weight of 8,800 pounds, in the vicinity of Yuma. In a statement Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced: “Five wide open gaps in the border wall near Yuma neighborhoods and businesses are now closed off.”
In announcing the new border work, the CBP said it intends to “prioritize funding on those remediation projects that are needed to address life and safety, including the protection of the public, U.S. Border Patrol agents, and nearby communities from potential harms, and avert further environmental damage or degradation.”
By Garry Boulard
