Several days after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, construction began on the fifth border wall project of his administration.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Tuesday that work has started on replacing 14 miles of a steel-mesh fence along the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego, The Associated Press reported. The fence is being replaced with 30-foot high steel bollards. It is actually the second layer of barrier to be put up in the area, with the first layer nearly complete.
SLSCO Ltd., a company located in Galveston, Texas, scored the $101 million contract in December 2018. The Trump administration has already awarded around $1 billion in contracts to cover 97 miles of the southern border, with the project in San Diego being one of the latest.
Trump touted the construction Wednesday of a border wall in New Mexico.
WATCH:
Progress continues after the president secured billions more in funding for border wall construction.
Trump signed into law an appropriations bill earlier in February that doles out $1.375 billion for 55 miles of new wall, an amount immigration hardliners said was not enough. However, the president then took the controversial step on Feb. 15 of declaring a national emergency, which allowed him to allocate a total of about $8 billion in federal funds.
A construction crew works on replacing the U.S.-Mexico border fence as seen from Tijuana, in Baja California state, Mexico, on Jan. 9, 2019. Photo: GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP/Getty Images
The emergency order has been adamantly opposed by Democrats and progressive groups.
A coalition of 16 states, led by California, filed suit against the president on Monday in an attempt to strike down the crisis declaration. A number of liberal organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Biological Diversity, have also leveled suits against the administration.
By Jason Hopkins
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