U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded a $309,463,000 contract for border wall construction to North Dakota-based Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. over the next 30 months to construct approximately 27 mi. of new border wall in Santa Cruz County, Ariz., which is within the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector
This contract is funded with CBP's fiscal 2021 funds.
The construction company, which is a family business operated by Tommy Fisher, is well-known in the Southwest for border wall construction, according to azcentral.com.
Fisher Sand & Gravel received nearly $2 billion in wall contracts during the first Trump administration, building segments in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
The Tucson Sector is an area of high illegal entry attempts and experiences large numbers of individuals and narcotics being smuggled into the country illegally, according to the DHS. Continuing border wall construction in Tucson will support the department's ability to impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug and human smuggling activities of transnational criminal organizations.
In addition, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she is securing the border with a new waiver for border wall construction, ensuring expeditious construction of up to an additional 17 mi. of new border wall in Texas within the USBP's Rio Grande Valley Sector.
This is the fifth waiver signed by Noem for border wall construction.
DHP said in its news release that Noem's waiver authority allows DHS to waive environmental laws including the National Environmental Policy Act — to ensure the expeditious construction of physical barriers and roads by minimizing the risk of administrative delays.
The waiver covers the RGV 02/04/10 Wall Project (approximately 9 mi. were awarded, with up to an additional 8 mi. in options) which is funded with CBP's FY 2021 appropriations.
The contract for a portion of the wall on the US-Mexico border wall is the second during President Donald Trump's second term. In March, Granite Construction wond a $70.3 million design-build contract for 7 mi. of wall in Hidalgo County, Texas.
