{"id":23507,"date":"2020-08-19T16:49:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T20:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=23507"},"modified":"2020-08-19T16:49:31","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T20:49:31","slug":"2020-could-be-end-of-border-wall-building-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2020\/08\/19\/2020-could-be-end-of-border-wall-building-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"2020 Could be the High Water Mark for Border Wall Construction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nearly four years after Donald Trump<\/a> pledged to build a wall along the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border, how many miles of new barriers have been completed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\ndepends on the definition of \u201cnew.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\ncommon parlance, \u201cnew\u201d refers to wall segments built where no barrier existed\npreviously. But according to the administration\u2019s broader definition, \u201cnew\u201d\nincludes sections that are replacements or upgrades.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndistinction is important because a full border wall was a signature campaign promise\nthat helped elect Trump in 2016. At that time, more than a thousand miles of\nAmerica\u2019s southern border had no barriers of any type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection<\/a> (CBP) reported that 275 miles of \u201cnew border wall system\u201d have been completed. But that figure merits an asterisk. The Washington Post<\/a> calculated that, as of October, only 16 miles of fencing had been built where barriers did not already exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBP\u2019s \u201cwall system\u201d terminology indicates that replacement segments are a significant improvement over previous fences. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a wall; it\u2019s a wall system. It\u2019s got integrated lighting and technology and access roads,\u201d Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan<\/a> explained last fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction\nof a 14-mile section near San Diego highlights\nthe difference. The project installed 18-foot steel bollards, improved\nroads and added sensor technology in place of 8-foot, dilapidated and outdated\npedestrian fencing to create what CBP calls \u201ca complete enforcement\nzone.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partnering with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,\u00a0CBP has begun installing the first panels of wall system in Texas\u2019 Rio Grande Valley. The busiest border sector in the nation, the area is Border Patrol\u2019s highest priority location for construction. FAI<\/a>R<\/a> reported this month that 69 miles of previously open border in the Laredo sector are ticketed for barricades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, there\u2019s a long, long way to go. USA Today<\/a> noted that Texas has the largest contiguous unfenced stretch of border: more than 600 miles. The Lone Star State is home to an estimated 1.6 million illegal aliens<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since\nJanuary 2017, CBP has received $9.8 billion to install some 509 miles of wall\nsystem at various points along the southern border. The agency said last\nOctober that it expected to have completed 450 miles by the end of 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But according to its latest figures, CBP is 175 miles short of its projection, with a little more than four months remaining this year. If Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden replaces Trump in the White House, 2020 will mark the end of the line. Biden has vowed that \u201cnot another foot of wall\u201d<\/a> would be built on his watch.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly four years after Donald Trump pledged to build a wall along the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border, how many miles of new barriers have been completed? It depends on the definition of \u201cnew.\u201d In common parlance, \u201cnew\u201d refers to wall segments built where no barrier existed previously. But according to the administration\u2019s broader definition, \u201cnew\u201d includes<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":15533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[1323,1524,448,1550],"yst_prominent_words":[4269,2109,2291,2043,2286,9130,2300,9625,4668,2292,3034,9627,9626,2862,2014,3753,1946,1939,2301,9610],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23508,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23507\/revisions\/23508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23507"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=23507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}