(The Center Square) – Continuing with the Trump administration policy to expand construction of the southwest border wall, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued additional waivers on Thursday to expedite construction now in all four southwest border states.
Three new waivers were issued for approximately 36 miles of new border wall to be built in Arizona and New Mexico.
This is after new border wall construction began in California in April and new border wall construction in Texas in March, The Center Square reported.
The authorization allows DHS to waive environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, to more quickly construct physical barriers and roads and minimize administrative delays. The waivers cover projects funded through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s fiscal 2020 and 2021 appropriations.
They include three areas in New Mexico in the CBP El Paso Sector: seven miles of the Santa Teresa Secondary Wall Project, 1.3 miles of the 16-4 Wall Project Anapra .2 miles and 40 feet for the 2 Wall Project & Port of Entry Gate.
Under the Biden administration, the El Paso Sector reported the greatest number of Border Patrol apprehensions in fiscal 2024 of 256,102, with more than half reported in New Mexico, The Center Square first reported.
The sector includes two west Texas counties and all of New Mexico. It shares 268 international border miles with Mexico and spans 125,500 square miles, with nearly all, 121,000 square miles, in New Mexico.
As illegal entries skyrocketed in New Mexico, its Democratic governor refused to work with Republican governors sending resources to Texas, whose law enforcement officers in El Paso were apprehending illegal border crossers coming in through New Mexico.
In 2023, Texas for the first time built border barriers along its shared state line with New Mexico, The Center Square first reported. Illegal entries in New Mexico surged to the point that Republican state lawmakers came to Texas to learn how they could replicate OLS efforts, The Center Square first reported.
In fiscal 2024, the El Paso Sector reported the third most Border Patrol apprehensions, fueled by New Mexico, behind the Tucson and San Diego sectors.
In Arizona, wall construction is being expedited in three areas of the Tucson Sector: 24.7 miles for the Sonoita Project, 0.2 miles for the 10-4 Project and 2.1 miles for the 10-6 Project.
In the Yuma Sector, seven gaps are being fixed in the Barry M. Goldwater Range Wall Project covering roughly 240 feet.
Under the Biden administration, illegal border crossings skyrocketed in the Tucson and Yuma sectors, which span 378 miles of shared border with Mexico.
The Tucson Sector has historically been one of the busiest along the U.S.-Mexico border. In fiscal 2024, Border Patrol agents there reported 463,567 illegal border crossers, the most of any sector along the southwest border during the year, excluding gotaways, those who illegal entered and evaded capture, The Center Square reported.
In an investigation led by the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, Arizona Border Patrol chiefs expressed concerns about gotaways and national security risks. Yuma Sector Deputy Chief Border Patrol Agent Dustin Caudle said the sector’s three interior checkpoints were critical for interdicting gotaways, but the majority of fiscal 2022 and most of fiscal 2023 they were down, meaning the border was wide open and unmanned.
As the border crisis worsened a record more than 775,000 illegal border crossers were reported in Arizona in fiscal 2023, The Center Square first reported.
