The Rio Bosque Wetlands border wall cuts across land near El Paso. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Megalibrarygirl

The federal government has awarded its first contract of President Donald Trump’s second term to resume construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Texas.

The $70 million-plus pact will cover construction of nearly seven miles of border fence in Uvalde County, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials. CBP said the work will fill gaps left when the Biden White House discontinued construction on the barrier — an uncompleted project Trump pledged to finish during his first term.

“This contract is funded with CBP’s Fiscal Year 2021 funds and will close critical openings in the border wall that were left incomplete due to cancelled contracts during the Biden Administration,” CBP said in its statement.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted his support of the contract Monday night, stating, “This is excellent,” and adding, “It’s great to have a President who believes in border security.”

CBP’s statement went on to argue spending on the wall is needed to curtail illegal crossings. The expense comes as the Trump White House continues to slash away at federal agencies and the Republican-controlled Congress threatens to gut social safety-net programs.

“The RGV Sector is an area of high-illegal entry and experiences large numbers of individuals and narcotics being smuggled into the country illegally,” CBP officials said. “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.”

However, CBP’s fear-mongering contradicts statistics that show migrants crossing the border aren’t responsible for the vast majority of illicit drugs entering the country.

Roughly 90% of illegal fentanyl is seized at legal points of entry, and “nearly all of that is smuggled by people who are legally authorized to cross the border, and more than half by U.S. citizens,” NPR reports. Since Trump began construction of the border fence during his first term, reports have mocked how easy it is to bypass by using a simple $5 ladder or sawing through it with commercially available tools.

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This article appears in Mar 5-18, 2025.

Stephanie Koithan is the Digital Content Editor of the San Antonio Current. In her role, she writes about politics, music, art, culture and food. Send her a tip at skoithan@sacurrent.com.