Funding has been secured for work on the border between Arizona and Mexico.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has approved legislation providing up to $564 million in state funding for that work. The measure also funds new security technology, mobile towers, and safety equipment, also along the border.
“With this investment, we are giving our law enforcement professionals another critical resource they need to successfully do their jobs,” Ducey wrote in a statement accompanying his signature.
Members of the Arizona State Legislature weeks ago approved funding for the project, which is designed to complete sections of the wall were still left incomplete after federal funding was withdrawn early last year.
The legislation was co-sponsored by State Representative John Kavanaugh, who has maintained that since the curtailment of the border construction that had been undertaken by Customs and Border Protection migrations have greatly increased, “overwhelming law enforcement and the Border Patrol.”
Reports indicate that the new funding may also pay to build protection infrastructure for wastewater treatment plants, canals, and area defense installations.
According to sources, just under 20 miles of the wall project had yet to be built as of the spring of 2021. Altogether, during a four-year period between 2017 and 2021, around 226 miles of bollard fencing had been built on federal land along the Arizona border.
By Garry Boulard
