ALAMO, Texas (Border Report) — The Trump administration has begun building more federal border wall in South Texas as part of its border security strategy with Mexico.
Border Report Live on Thursday will discuss the section of new border barrier going up near Alamo, Texas, how it is built and what it’s designed to do.
During his first term, President Donald Trump had about 450 miles of new border barrier go up along the U.S. border with Mexico, much of it was in South Texas.
Now the government is spending $70 million to build 7 new miles of border wall along a segment where the bollard sizes go up and down and where the Biden administration stopped construction.
in New Mexico, X-shaped barriers will soon be replaced with border wall, also.
Border Patrol says the border wall isn’t mean to stop illegal immigration, but it’s meant to funnel those who cross illegally into certain areas where law enforcement agents can apprehend them.
The wall also recently helped to stop the spread of a wildfire that jumped the Rio Grande and burned over 130 acres near where the new border barrier is going up.
The State of Texas, through its Operation Lone Star state-funded border security initiative, has also built about 50 miles of border wall using the same plans and material as the federal border wall that is going up.
But many people still illegally cross into the United States, despite the border barrier, using ladders and other homemade devices.
In West Texas, authorities recently found a smuggling tunnel that leads from Juarez, Mexico to El Paso.
The illegal border tunnel was discovered on Jan. 9. The quarter-mile long tunnel went under the Rio Grande.
The entrance to the tunnel, which is a few feet from a six-lane highway in Juarez, has since been sealed.
To further fortify the border, more troops are being sent to stand guard, including Stryker teams that already are in El Paso.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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