Well, well, with all of the other news going on this week, look what’s happening now – another campaign promise kept (reformatted, emphasis mine):
Border wall work begins in downtown Calexico
The federal government began work Wednesday to replace a section of border wall in California, the first wall contract awarded in the Trump administration outside of eight prototypes that were built last year in San Diego. Customs and Border Protection is replacing a little more than two miles in downtown Calexico, a sliver of the president’s plan for a “big, beautiful wall” with Mexico. A barrier built in the 1990s from recycled metal scraps and landing mat will be torn down for bollard-style posts that are 30 feet high, significantly taller than existing walls…In November, SWF Constructors of Omaha, Neb., won a contract for $18 million to replace the wall in Calexico, about 120 miles east of San Diego. It encompasses an area bisected by the New River, where smugglers are known to guide people through polluted waters. The project, which includes a bridge over the river, is expected to take 300 days.
The administration cleared the way for construction in September by waiving dozens of environmental and other reviews in Calexico. A 2005 law exempted it from environmental reviews if the Homeland Security secretary deems a wall to be in national security interests. The Trump administration also has issued waivers to build in San Diego and Santa Teresa, N.M. George W. Bush’s administration issued the previous five waivers, allowing the government to quickly extend the wall to nearly one-third of the border without legal challenges that can block construction or cause major delays.
(H/T: San Diego Union-Tribune)
