DHS action expedites border wall project

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said an agency waiver would expedite construction of three miles of a new border wall system in the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector.

The work would be located west of Roma near Fronton, in Starr County, Texas, with the waiver mandating the installation of additional fencing, barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors on the southwest border.

Congress has also granted to the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to waive all legal requirements that the Secretary, in the Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure the expeditious construction of the barriers and roads.

Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. has been awarded a contract in the amount of $42.8 million for the construction of 18-30 foot tall steel bollards, in addition to road construction, detection technology and lighting installation, per the guidelines, which noted the project is funded by Customs and Border Protection’s Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) Appropriation.

The waiver covers a variety of environmental, natural resource, and land management laws. Congress provided the Secretary of Homeland Security with several authorities necessary to carry out DHS’s border security mission. Congress also stated that the Secretary of Homeland Security should take actions as may be necessary to install additional physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the U.S. border to deter illegal crossings in areas of high unauthorized entry into the United States.