PHARR, Texas (Border Report) — Piles of rusted border bollards are stacked high in several holding yards throughout the Rio Grande Valley. But a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official on Monday told Border Report that this material will not be auctioned off.
Reports surfaced this week prompting President-elect Donald Trump to call out the Biden administration for reportedly auctioning off some border wall bollards in Arizona.
But a CBP official told Border Report that the steel bollards in South Texas are not part of those sales.
“The panels in Texas are not related to the ongoing sale in Arizona,” the CBP official said.
That’s because CBP owns the material in Texas and it is to be used for border security initiatives.
It very well could be part of upcoming border wall expansion implemented by the incoming Trump administration.
Stacks of rusted border wall bollards sit in a yard in Pharr, Texas, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report)
President-elect Trump campaigned promising tougher border security and it is expected that he will expand the border wall after taking office on Jan. 20.
During his first term, about 450 miles of new border wall was built along the Southwest U.S./Mexico border.
After President Biden took office, border wall expansion was halted and surplus materials have remained in several storage yards throughout the Rio Grande, some stacked several feet tall and all rusting in the sun and rain.
A section of border wall in Hidalgo, Texas. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report File Photo)
South Texas is the only area where the Biden administration is currently trying to build new border wall because Congress approved funds in Fiscal Year 2019, which the administration says must be used for new border wall barrier in this rural county.
Since 2023, the Biden administration has been trying to build almost 20 miles of border wall in Starr County and has waived environmental regulations for construction. However the land must first be acquired from private landowners.
The bollards in Arizona that reportedly are being auctioned are material owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is part of the Department of Defense. Funding for storage facilities of that surplus material reportedly have been halted and that is why the material is being auctioned.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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