The San Diego portion of the border wall construction project is underway, just east of Border Field State Park.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said the $147 million project, which replaces 14 miles of eight-to-10 foot high scrap metal wall with an 18-to-30 foot bollard-style wall topped off with an anti-climbing plate, begins one-half mile from the Pacific Ocean coastline and extends eastward to the base of Otay Mountain in East County San Diego.
“Under this President’s leadership, we have a renewed commitment to secure our border,” Ronald Vitiello, CBP’s acting deputy commissioner, said. “The new primary wall project represents an important milestone in our work to secure the international border. Not only does it significantly upgrade our existing infrastructure in San Diego, it also marks the third concurrent wall project in the U.S. and reflects CBP’s commitment to secure our borders and protect our nation.”
CBP officials noted the San Diego Sector (SDC) continues to experience a high number of arrests resulting from illegal entries and drug smuggling, referencing during fiscal year 2017 the SDC apprehended 26,086 illegal aliens and seized 10,985 pounds of marijuana, 2,903 pounds of cocaine, 4,123 pounds of methamphetamine, and 5,707 ounces of heroin.
Wall in the San Diego area was built in the 1990s out of recycled scraps of metal and old landing mat steel plates left over from the Vietnam era, officials said, adding the eight-to-10 feet high wall was intended to aid in re-establishing the border and prevent pedestrian and vehicle crossings.
Although the existing wall was effective, CBP personnel said the cross-border threat has since increased and several decades old corrugated steel landing mat is in need of replacement with a higher performing design.