Construction begins to replace border wall
SAN DIEGO — The federal government began work Wednesday on replacing border wall in California, the first wall contract awarded in the Trump administration outside of eight prototypes that were built last year in San Diego.
Customs and Border Protection is replacing a little more than 3 kilometres of wall in downtown Calexico, a sliver of the president’s plan for a “big, beautiful wall” with Mexico. A barrier built in the 1990s from recycled metal scraps and landing mat will be torn down for bollard-style barriers that are 30 feet high, significantly taller than existing walls.
The administration is seeking $18 billion to extend the wall. Efforts to pay for it as part of a broader immigration package that would include granting legal status for people who came to the county as young children failed in the Senate last week.
The administration cleared the way for construction in September by waiving dozens of environmental and other reviews in Calexico.
The state of California and major environmental advocacy groups have sued the administration over the waivers, saying its authority expired. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was taunted by Trump during the presidential campaign for his handling of fraud allegations against the now-defunct Trump University, is expected to rule soon on whether to allow the border wall lawsuit to go forward.