x
Breaking News
More () »

Construction of first border gate begins in Texas today

Credit: Scott Eisen/Getty Images
A patch on the uniform of a U.S. Border Patrol agent at a highway checkpoint on August 1, 2018 in West Enfield, Maine.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Friday that, in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it has awarded a contract to construct border wall gates in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley Sector. A press release from CBP said the construction was funded in CBP’s Fiscal Year 2017 appropriation.

The contract for the first phase of gate construction was awarded Oct. 3, 2018, to Gideon Contracting, LLC, from San Antonio, in the amount of $3,731,380 for seven base gates. The contract includes options for four additional gates valued at $1,985,525, the release said.

Construction for the first seven gates is scheduled to begin today.

Gate construction includes installation of 35 automated border wall gates, associated equipment and site improvements at current openings in the existing pedestrian wall alignment in the USBP RGV Sector; within the area of responsibility of the Fort Brown, Brownsville and Harlingen Border Patrol stations within Cameron County. The gates will be located off the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission levee at the end of, or along existing levee ramps. Once installed, the gates will serve as a persistent impediment to smuggling organizations while still allowing river access for property owners, USBP, other local/state/federal officials and local emergency responders, the release said.

The RGV Sector remains an area of high illegal cross border activity. In fiscal year 2017, U.S. Border Patrol apprehended more than 137,000 illegal aliens and seized approximately 260,000 lbs. of marijuana and approximately 1,192 lbs. of cocaine in the RGV Sector.

The release ends with the statement, “CBP continues to implement President Trump’s Executive Order 13767 - also known as Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements – and continues to take steps to expeditiously plan, design, and construct a physical wall using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve complete operational control of the southern border.”

Before You Leave, Check This Out