Pentagon Awards $1 Billion In Border Fence Projects

By Michel Marizco
Published: Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 8:24am
Updated: Wednesday, April 10, 2019 - 9:04am

border vehicle barrier
Michel Marizco/KJZZ
A contractor started in 2018 to build Homeland Security's new border wall that will replace vehicle barrier in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

The Pentagon announced late Tuesday it has awarded about $1 billion for replacement border fence projects along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The money was divided between two projects, one in Yuma and a second larger project in New Mexico.

The Pentagon awarded a Montana company $187 million to replace a segment of border wall in Yuma and awarded a Texas company a far larger contract, nearly $800 million to replace vehicle barriers around Santa Teresa, New Mexico. 

The fence in Yuma will reach 18 feet high, similar to much of the border fence currently standing along the Arizona border. Parts of the New Mexico project will include 30-foot high fencing.

The money, however, did not come from Pentagon funds that President Trump intended to tap into when he declared a national emergency on the border.

Both projects are supposed to be done by October 2020, just ahead of the U.S. presidential elections.

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