CBP awards $309 million for border wall, waives environmental laws
June 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday awarded $309,463,000 to Fisher Sand and Gravel Co. to build 27 miles of border wall in Arizona's Tucson sector.
Environmental laws were waived for the border wall construction, according to CBP.
CBP said in a statement the taxpayer funds came from border wall contracts canceled by the Biden administration.
CBP's statement added, "The Tucson Sector is an area of high illegal-entry attempts and experiences large numbers of individuals and narcotics being smuggled into the country illegally. Continuing border wall construction in Tucson will support the Department of Homeland Security's ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug and human smuggling activities of transnational criminal organizations."
The border wall money was the fifth environmental laws waiver signed by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for the border wall.
The money for this latest section of the wall to be funded came from CBP's fiscal Year 2021 funds.
On June 5, DHS issued three environmental waivers for border wall construction in Arizona and New Mexico as the Trump administration prioritizes border wall construction and fossil fuel production over adhering to previously created environmental regulations.
DHS said the waiver of environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, are necessary to expedite border wall building.
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