Congressman blasts new $1.6 billion barrier ‘in middle of nowhere’

A congressman from New Mexico is blasting the Trump administration’s plan to build a $1.6 billion stretch of border barrier in a remote portion of his district. The area known as the Bootheel of New Mexico is sparsely populated, mountainous and is seeing little migrant or drug smuggling activity, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico, said Wednesday on Border Report Live. “This Bootheel border wall project is the absolute definition of waste and will do nothing to make our country safer,” Vasquez said. “American taxpayers will get zero return on their investment if the Department of Homeland Security pursues this plan to build a $1.6 billion dollar border wall in one of the most rugged, remote stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border.” The contract awarded to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. consists of a 49-mile barrier in Hidalgo County, New Mexico. It includes a primary border wall system, a secondary barrier and extensive motion detection technology. A dirt road to facilitate vehicle traffic by construction crews and Border Patrol vehicles also reportedly is under construction.