The Trump administration is pushing forward with new border wall construction, awarding a $309 million contract to close key gaps left behind by the Biden administration.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has contracted the Fisher Sand & Gravel Company to build about 27 miles of new border wall in Arizona’s Santa Cruz County. The project will be funded with Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations originally designated but left unused under the previous administration.
In tandem with the Arizona expansion, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has issued her fifth waiver to fast-track an additional 17 miles of new wall construction in Texas, within the Rio Grande Valley area. The waiver aims to sidestep red tape from laws like the National Environmental Policy Act, a move DHS says is crucial to meet security needs on the southern border.
The Texas wall segment, dubbed the RGV 02/04/10 Wall Project, has already seen roughly 9 miles of wall awarded to construction bids, with the potential for 8 more miles. Like the Arizona build, the project is also funded through CBP’s FY 2021 budget, showing an effort by Trump to repurpose dormant funds and revive construction of the border wall previously suspended under Biden.
However, the federal push to continue building the border wall seems to be seen a bit differently at the state level.
As previously reported by DX, Texas lawmakers have quietly removed funding for new border wall construction from the latest $337 billion state budget earlier this month.
Republican State Sen. Joan Huffman told The Dallas Express that with President Trump now enforcing immigration laws once again, Texas will focus its resources on supporting federal operations and enhancing border security through other means, including Operation Lone Star.
While only 8% of Texas’s state-funded wall has been completed, Huffman also noted that funds already allocated will allow progress through 2026.
Huffman explained that this transition positions the federal government to take the lead, especially with Trump’s policies already reducing illegal border crossings.
Last month, under Trump’s directive, zero illegal aliens were released into the U.S, a big contrast to the over 62,000 released under the Biden administration during the same period in 2024.