CBP Completes 50 Miles of New Border, 50 More Underway
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View of the Mexico-US wall in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico on June 18, 2019. (AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP/Getty Images)
US NEWS
CBP Completes 50 Miles of New Border, 50 More Underway
BY BOWEN XIAO
July 11, 2019 Updated: July 11, 2019
About 50 miles of brand new wall has been completed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the United States’ southwest border, with more expected to be constructed, according to acting Commissioner Mark Morgan.
“Fifty miles of new border wall on the Southwest border and construction continues every day,” Morgan announced in a July 10 Twitter post. “Construction is underway for more than 50 additional miles and more contract awards are anticipated by the end of the year.”
Accompanying Morgan’s Twitter post were a few photos, some showing the construction process—others depicting the finished product. It didn’t say exactly where the new wall was being built.
The Department of Homeland Security announced weeks ago that Morgan would serve as the acting commissioner of CBP after John P. Sanders’s decision to resign. Morgan became the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in May.
Last month, President Donald Trump praised a decision reached by the federal court denying a request by House Democrats to block funds being appropriated from other accounts for the construction of the border wall.
“Just had a big victory in Federal Court over the Democrats in the House on the desperately needed Border Wall. A big step in the right direction. Wall is under construction!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 688,375 illegal aliens on the southern border this fiscal year, according to the latest CBP data. In June alone, Border Patrol agents apprehended 94,897 illegal immigrants.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said last month that each week, about two miles of additional border wall are being built.
“[It’s] coming along aggressively,” McAleenan told Trump during a meeting at the White House on June 12. “By the end of next year, over 400 miles [will be built].”
The United States is dealing with a rising influx of illegal aliens, most of whom are traveling through Mexico from Central America.
Just last weekend, Border Patrol agents said they arrested a sex offender and also foiled a maritime smuggling attempt.
The sex offender was detained after agents spotted a man approximately six miles north of the U.S.-Mexico International Boundary. The man was identified as a 53-year-old Honduran national who had no legal documentation. He was arrested and sent to a nearby station for processing.
After running records checks at the station, the man was revealed to have had a “criminal conviction out of New Hampshire for aggravated felonious sexual assault against a child,” according to CBP.
The smuggling attempt was foiled when a U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted a pleasure-craft vessel operating near Point Loma, California. During the initial interception, they observed one person on board, but after boarding the vessel, they found an additional 12.
“All onboard were suspected of attempting to enter the U.S. illegally and were transported to the USCG base on North Harbor Drive, San Diego,” CBP said. Agents later took all 13 individuals into custody.
The vast majority of those being detained by border agents are children and family units from Central America that Border Patrol is forced to release quickly, despite the fact that 90 percent of them never show up for their subsequent immigration hearings.
Trump has also applauded Mexico for its recent efforts to curb illegal immigration.
“Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people… long before they get to our Southern Border. Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement. The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress,” Trump said on multiple Twitter posts last month.
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