Arizona’s border wall: What to know about the barrier, its construction, gaps

José Ignacio Castañeda Perez, Arizona Republic
·4 min read
36
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Border wall gap-filling along the Arizona-Mexico border has continued under President Joe Biden as his administration on Wednesday waived 26 federal laws in South Texas for new border wall construction.

The construction in Starr County, Texas, represents a reversal for Biden who earlier promised not to add “another foot” to former President Donald Trump’s controversial border wall.

The circumvention of federal laws and environmental restrictions in Texas comes as the administration attempts to manage increased numbers of migrants arriving along the southern border.

The wall expansion will be funded by money approved by Congress in 2019.

On his first day in office in January 2021, Biden paused construction on the border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and rescinded Trump’s 2-year-old national declaration of emergency.

FILE - In this Thursday, June 10, 2021, file photo, a pair of migrant families from Brazil pass through a gap in the border wall to reach the United States after crossing from Mexico to Yuma, Ariz., to seek asylum. Border officials got the go-ahead Thursday, July 28, 2022, to fill four remaining gaps in the U.S.-Mexico wall near the southern Arizona community of Yuma for safety reasons. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia, File)

As of January 2021, about 458 miles of barrier have been completed with sites in various stages of construction along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to CBP.

In June 2021, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security canceled all unfinished border barrier projects funded by the Defense Department's 284 counter-narcotics funding, as ordered by Biden’s proclamation, and announced that DHS would not undertake any new border barrier construction on the former 284 projects.

In December 2021, DHS authorized U.S. Customs and Border Protection to move forward with “activities necessary to address life, safety, environmental and remediation requirements” related to the Defense Department's 284 border barrier projects.

Biden border wall reversal: Biden administration to extend border wall touted by Donald Trump

Construction supplies for the border wall sit stacked at Guadalupe Canyon, Arizona, after the Biden administration halted work on the barriers.
Construction supplies for the border wall sit stacked at Guadalupe Canyon, Arizona, after the Biden administration halted work on the barriers.

In September 2022, CBP announced plans to close small gaps along the U.S.-Mexico border wall, completing construction on unfinished gates, drainage areas and associated foundation work as part of the agency’s border barrier remediation projects.

Gap closure and gate installations in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector were announced alongside the repair and completion of automated vehicle gates in the Yuma Sector.

In Arizona, border wall fencing stretches nearly the length of the Arizona-Mexico border with about 226 miles of bollard fencing erected on federal lands in the state from 2017 to 2021.

In southeast Arizona, construction crews blasted through the rugged landscape to make way for the border wall.
In southeast Arizona, construction crews blasted through the rugged landscape to make way for the border wall.

The Arizona border, which shares over 370 miles with Mexico, has various gaps in the border wall. Large swaths of the border are only separated by vehicle barriers on the Cocopah Indian Tribe and Tohono O’odham Nation lands.

Construction plans to close small gaps, install gates and address operational concerns have been underway since December 2021.

Border wall gaps to close: Feds OK work to close border wall 'gaps' in Arizona as environmentalists raise concerns

Tucson Samaritans check the border wall, including a small gap in the new construction, near Sasabe, Ariz., on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Opponents that seek to control immigration, such as the Washington-based think tank Center for Immigration Studies, contend the border wall and other barriers are a better way to keep deaths down by keeping migrants out.

The permanent closure of gaps in the Arizona-Mexico border wall has raised environmental and humanitarian concerns in the past. Advocates have said the closure of the gaps will hurt their ability to reach people who are in need of essential supplies, including water and heat relief.

Three gaps near Sasabe recently have begun to be closed with construction underway, according to Dora Rodriguez, director of the Tucson-based Salvavision, which provides aid to migrants in Sasabe, Sonora.

The construction has led to large groups of migrants arriving at Casa de la Esperanza resource center near the Sasabe Port of Entry, Rodriguez said.

Dora Rodriguez, center, who was among 13 Salvadorans who survived in 1980 when another 13 people in the group died in the broiling sun near Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, talks with Vicente Lopez, 19, who grew up in Guatemala's Ixil triangle, where government troops in the early 1980s wiped out entire communities suspected of harboring rebels, on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Sasabe, Mexico. At the age of 19, she remained in Tucson and eventually became a U.S. citizen.

In Yuma, The Biden administration resumed border wall construction on four gaps near the Morelos Dam in January. The gaps were previously the site of former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s shipping container border barrier.

The gaps are now closed with temporary mesh fencing and mechanized bollard vehicle gates, which allow farmers and Border Patrol agents to access the area.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas authorized CBP to close the four gaps in July 2022. The closure was meant to address operational impacts as well as immediate life and safety risks, per DHS.

A gap in the border wall at the Morelos Dam on Aug. 10, 2022, in Yuma.
A gap in the border wall at the Morelos Dam on Aug. 10, 2022, in Yuma.

Construction to fill border wall gaps near Nogales began in May ahead of the expiration of the Title 42 health restriction. The unfinished portion of the border wall west of Nogales, known as the Mariposa Slab, was a frequent crossing point for migrants to surrender to Border Patrol agents.

It is unclear if construction in the area has been completed. CBP and DHS did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

Have a news tip or story idea about the border and its communities? Contact the reporter at josecastaneda@arizonarepublic.com or connect with him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @joseicastaneda.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona border wall: What's happening with construction, filling gaps?