DHS Clears Way for Miles of New Border Wall in Texas

WASHINGTON — A new federal waiver will fast-track up to 17 more miles of border wall construction in South Texas, as DHS resumes projects halted under the previous administration.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is following through on her commitment to secure the border with a new waiver for border wall construction, ensuring expeditious construction of up to an additional approximately 17 miles of new border wall in Texas located within the USBP’s Rio Grande Valley Sector.

This is the fifth waiver that has been signed by Secretary Noem for border wall construction and demonstrates DHS’s continued commitment to ensuring the expeditious construction of physical barriers necessary to secure the southern border of the United States.

The Secretary’s waiver authority allows DHS to waive environmental laws–including the National Environmental Policy Act–to ensure the expeditious construction of physical barriers and roads, by minimizing the risk of administrative delays. Projects executed under a waiver are critical steps to secure the southern border and reinforce our commitment to border security. The waiver covers the RGV 02/04/10 Wall Project (~9 miles currently awarded; with up to an additional ~8 miles in options) which is funded with CBP’s FY 2021 appropriations. The waiver was issued pursuant to Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection also awarded another contract for border wall construction, the second of President Trump’s second term in office, to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. for $309,463,000 to construct approximately 27 miles of new border wall in Santa Cruz County, Arizona located within the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector.

This contract is funded with CBP’s Fiscal Year 2021 funds and will close critical openings in the border wall that were left incomplete due to cancelled contracts during the Biden Administration.

The Tucson Sector is an area of high illegal-entry attempts and experiences large numbers of individuals and narcotics being smuggled into the country illegally. Continuing border wall construction in Tucson will support the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug and human smuggling activities of transnational criminal organizations.