Trump admin awards $70 million border wall contract

The Trump administration has awarded a $70 million contract to a construction firm to extend the border wall, marking the first such contract of President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

Granite Construction Co., a California-based company with previous government project experience, will be responsible for building about seven additional miles of the wall in Hidalgo County, Texas, according to a press release by Customs and Border Protection.

CBP said the new wall portion will “close critical openings in the border wall that were left incomplete due to cancelled contracts during the Biden Administration.”

The agency added, "Completing the border wall in these locations will support the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug- and human-smuggling activities of cartels."

The area of the Rio Grande Valley where the section of the wall is being put up "experiences large numbers of individuals and narcotics being smuggled into the country illegally,” the agency said in a statement. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that construction for the wall section officially began on Sunday.

"Everybody, I'm here in Arizona, and right at this spot you can see where the border wall ends. As of today, we're starting seven new miles of construction. We're going to continue to make America safe again,” Noem said, sharing a video of herself by the border on Sunday.

She captioned the post, “Announcing today - we’re building 7 more miles of wall. Make America Safe Again!” The construction to continue the border wall is in step with Trump’s other moves to end the flow of illegal immigration into the US.

Since Trump has taken office, there has been a massive drop in how many border encounters there have been, with some traveling to the border, planning to cross illegally, having turned around in reaction to Trump’s presidency.