60 miles of new wall built on Arizona border with hundreds more expected by end of 2020
Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan says every mile counts to keep America safer.
Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan touted Tuesday the progress of the "new border wall system" being built in Arizona.
“What was there was old, dilapidated, ineffective and it didn’t work,” Morgan told “Fox & Friends.” “Every mile that’s being built is absolutely a new wall and it’s not just a wall,” he said.
Host Brian Kilmeade noted that Axios reported that "not a single mile of wall has been built where no barrier previously existed" and that a DHS official failed to explain "when the first section of 'new' wall would be built."
Morgan responded that the report's characterization of the border wall situation is "absolutely wrong," saying the wall system includes not just a physical barrier, but also "integrated lighting, technology and access roads."
Drone footage released by the Border Patrol over the weekend shows miles of a “new border wall system” going up at a location in Arizona, near where illegal immigrants were seen streaming into America years ago.
BORDER PATROL RELEASES DRONE FOOTAGE SHOWING MILES OF ‘NEW WALL SYSTEM’ BEING BUILT
The construction is taking place near San Luis and is being carried out with the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“With each mile that’s built, this country is more safe and if you ask the men and women in Border Patrol, this president is giving them exactly what they’ve been asking for,” he said.
Construction in that section of Arizona is expected to take about 45 days. The U.S. government then plans to tackle other projects in the state, including nearly 40 miles of fencing in other parts of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and areas of Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.
Last week, workers also broke ground for construction between Columbus and Santa Teresa — small towns near ports of entry along the border between New Mexico and the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.
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The taller fencing is being funded through a national emergency declaration by President Trump.
Fox News’ Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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