Border Patrol begins filling 7 'vulnerable gaps' in border wall near Yuma
The U.S. Border Patrol has begun erecting new 30-foot wall panels along a stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border in the agency's Yuma sector.
Construction crews are filling seven 'vulnerable gaps' in the border wall system, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Those gaps were set to be filled years ago during President Donald Trump's first term, but President Joe Biden's administration canceled the contracts drawn up to do so.
The gaps are in a remote desert area south of Wellton, Arizona. The exact number of miles to be completed remains unclear.
This latest border wall construction project is in response to Trump's executive order titled 'Securing Our Borders,' signed on his first day back in the White House. The executive order directs Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to 'deploy and construct temporary and permanent physical barriers to ensure complete operational control of the southern border of the United States.'
Noem announced that new border wall construction would begin during a visit to Nogales on March 16.
"Everybody, I'm here in Arizona, and right at this spot you can see where the border wall ends," Noem said in a video shared to X. "As of today, we're starting seven new miles of construction. We're going to continue to make America safe again."
The seven miles are an extension of the border wall in Hidalgo County, Texas, where a $70 million contract was awarded to Granite Construction Co., a California-based company, to build within the U.S. Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley sector. This was the first contract awarded during the second Trump administration.
The Arizona-Mexico border was the site of several wall construction projects under the first Trump administration. Between 2017 and 2021, the administration constructed 458 miles of fencing, most of which replaced existing structures. About 226 miles of pedestrian fencing were erected on federal lands in Arizona.
In 2019, the Trump administration began replacing existing border fence with 18-to-30-foot bollard-style fencing in an area 107 miles long, stretching east of Wellton to Andrade, California.
The new border wall fence was finished at the end of 2020, according to a 2021 news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The number of migrant apprehensions for individuals caught crossing illegally between ports of entry has continued to drop significantly in the first month since Trump returned to office.
Across the southern border, Border Patrol agents reported 8,326 apprehensions for the entire month of February. That is a drop of 71% from January, when agents logged about 29,000 arrests, according to the CBP open data portal.
Border Patrol agents in the Yuma sector reported apprehending 243 individuals found crossing the border between ports of entry last month. The latest figure represents an approximately 95% drop in apprehensions in this sector from February 2024.
The decrease in apprehensions in this sector has been trending since last summer, when agents reported 5,321 arrests in May 2024 and then 3,519 the next month.
Have any news tips or story ideas about the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona? Reach the reporter at rromeroruiz@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @raphaeldelag.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Border Patrol begins filling gaps in border wall near Yuma
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russian drones and missiles target Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
A large Russian drone and missile attack has targeted the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local Ukrainian officials said. The Russian barrage – the latest in near daily widescale attacks by Moscow – included deadly aerial glide bombs that have become part of fierce Russian attacks in the three-year war. Kharkiv's mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack also damaged 18 blocks of flats and 13 private homes. Citing preliminary data, he said Russia used 48 Shahed drones, two missiles and four aerial glide bombs in the attack. The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal soon – especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. The attack also came after US President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Mr Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Mr Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signalled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russia won't let Ukrainian forces rest until Putin's demands are met – Russian deputy foreign minister
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has stated that Moscow will not allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to "use any pause to rest and regroup" without "eliminating the root causes of the conflict". Source: Ryabkov in an interview with Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency TASS Details: Ryabkov emphasised that US President Donald Trump's return to the White House has become a "reason for cautious optimism" in Russia regarding the normalisation of relations with the United States. He said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin during phone conversations with Trump "confirmed the basic directive on the necessity to eliminate the root causes of the conflict within the framework of political and diplomatic efforts". Ryabkov noted that if the Kremlin's conditions are not met, Russia will act to prevent the Armed Forces of Ukraine from taking advantage of "any pause to rest and regroup". According to him, the Kremlin's position is well known to Washington and threats of sanctions will not change it. "It is strange that hotheads in the US Senate, who have lost their last remnants of common sense, are ignoring this reality. We will continue efforts to achieve the objectives of the special military operation [Russian propaganda term for the war in Ukraine – ed.]. Thus, the decision and the choice are up to Washington, up to Trump," Ryabkov concluded. Background: On 3 June, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council and former president of the Russian Federation, declared that the true purpose of the so-called peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul is to ensure Russia's swift and complete victory. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russian drones and missiles target Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv, killing 3, officials say
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A large Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local Ukrainian officials said. The Russian barrage — the latest in near daily widescale attacks by Moscow — included deadly aerial glide bombs that have become part of fierce Russian attacks in the three-year war. Kharkiv's mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Citing preliminary data, he said Russia used 48 Shahed drones, two missiles and four aerial glide bombs in the attack. The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon days — especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. The attack also came aftert U.S. President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signaled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts.
