President Trump can tout border wall completion in San Diego, praised by local agents

On August 9, 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), completed construction on approximately 14 miles of new border wall system in U.S. Border Patrol’s (USBP) San Diego Sector in California. This project, funded with CBP’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 appropriation, included the construction of 18-foot steel bollards, improved road conditions, and additional technology in place of dilapidated and outdated pedestrian barrier.

“The construction of the new border wall system supports USBP’s ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug and human smuggling activities of transnational criminal organizations while increasing safety by allowing agents to observe activity just immediately south of the border wall,” said Acting San Diego Sector Chief Kathleen Scudder. 

Check out some video coverage via Fox below.

Border Patrol agent Vincent Pirro told reporters that this section of the border wall replacement is the wall that Trump built.

“This was during his administration. It was funded and approved and it was built under his administration,” Pirro said. “This is Trump’s wall.”

photo/ donkeyhotey

As of August 9, 2019, CBP has constructed approximately 57 miles of new border wall system since 2017. By the end of 2020, CBP and DOD expect to construct a total of 450 miles or more of new border wall system if additional funds are identified, including up to 334 miles of new border wall system completed by CBP in high priority locations across the Southwest border using a combination of the Department of Homeland Security appropriations, Department of Defense 10 U.S.C. § 284 Counter-Narcotics funding and Treasury Forfeiture Funds. This includes an addition of approximately 14 miles of new secondary wall in the same location in USBP’s San Diego Sector funded by CBP’s FY 2018 appropriation, of which over six miles have been completed to date. 

CBP continues to implement President Trump’s Executive Order 13767 – also known as Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements – taking steps to expeditiously plan, design, and construct a physical wall using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve operational control of the southern border.