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IT’S HAPPENING: New Photos Reveal Trump Admin. Preparing U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Construction
thegatewaypundit ^ | Joshua Caplan

Posted on 07/15/2017 8:15:15 AM PDT by davikkm

New photos show President Trump is making good on his number one campaign promise — building a ‘big, beautiful’ border wall between the united States and Mexico.

Left leaning Texas Observer published photos of contractors preparing the construction of the wall. You’ll read the site was more concerned about the wildlife of Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in South Texas than the President keeping his word on curbing illegal immigration

Texas Observer reports:

For at least six months, private contractors and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have been quietly preparing to build the first piece of President Trump’s border wall through the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in South Texas. The federally owned 2,088-acre refuge, often called the “crown jewel of the national wildlife refuge system,” could see construction begin as early as January 2018, according to a federal official who has been involved in the planning but asked to remain anonymous.

“This should be public information,” the official told the Observer. “There shouldn’t be government officials meeting in secret just so they don’t have to deal with the backlash. The public has the right to know about these plans.”

CBP plans to construct an 18-foot levee wall that would stretch for almost three miles through the wildlife refuge, according to the official. The structure would consist of a concrete base, which would serve as a levee, and be topped with a fence made of steel bollards, similar to a levee wall built almost a decade ago near Hidalgo, Texas. A second federal official confirmed these details to the Observer.

(Excerpt) Read more at thegatewaypundit.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Mexico; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bordersecurity; buildthewall; clickbait; lyingtedsadnow; nevertrumpersexplode; second100days; tedcruiseiscrying; trumpmexico; winning
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To: WMarshal

I am not opposed to the temporary wire barrier you are proposing, you know, the kind that gets neglected and torn down during Democrat administrations.

But, for the benefit of my children, grandchildren, and yours too, we need a Wall.


21 posted on 07/15/2017 9:21:37 AM PDT by Balding_Eagle ( The Great Wall of Trump ---- 100% sealing of the border. Coming soon.)
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To: hoosiermama

It will be interesting to see how this Reservation plays when it gets into Texas.
The Reservation only list California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Another growing source of illegals come in legally but leave when their visas or
papers expire. It is indicated that this group is becoming larger than those
illegally crossing the Southern Border.


22 posted on 07/15/2017 9:47:21 AM PDT by deport
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To: Grampa Dave

patience, patience...... when there is an FBI director, all hell will break loose.

The DOJ requires a fully functioning FBI


23 posted on 07/15/2017 9:52:58 AM PDT by Thibodeaux (Democrat calls for kumbaya must be met with their blood on the ground)
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To: davikkm

..........I urge all freepers to be patient. In typical federal government fashion, this wall is slowly going up.

***********************************************************

Much of the wall has already been built
Since the early 1990s, politicians of all stripes have scrambled to show their commitment to border security. During that time, annual federal funding for border and immigration control mushroomed from $1.5 billion to $19.5 billion. According to one estimate, Washington spends $5 billion more on border and immigration control than for all other federal law enforcement combined.

And the result? Hundreds of miles of metal barriers have gone up. Technologies initially developed for the military have been adapted for border enforcement. A fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft have been deployed to monitor from the air. Thousands of new agents have been hired. The size of the Border Patrol doubled in the 1990s and has more than doubled again since the beginning of the century, from about 4,000 personnel to more than 21,000.


24 posted on 07/15/2017 10:04:16 AM PDT by Cen-Tejas
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To: davikkm

Protecting our borders is the single most important thing a president can do. bammy deliberately let people in who would kill us.


25 posted on 07/15/2017 10:11:59 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Acting constantly in contradiction with one's human nature is de facto evidence of insanity.)
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To: Tucker39
I think POTUS and Sessions are working in concert. Things are beind done behind the scenes. Some of the “delay” is merely to let some of this “resistance” and other tantrums blow themselves out. THEN things will begin to happen.

From your keyboard to God's eyes!

26 posted on 07/15/2017 10:51:43 AM PDT by American Quilter (President Trump's making good on his campaign promises--it's morning in America!)
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To: davikkm

..........I urge all freepers to be patient. In typical federal government fashion, this wall is slowly going up.

***********************************************************

Much of the wall has already been built
Since the early 1990s, politicians of all stripes have scrambled to show their commitment to border security. During that time, annual federal funding for border and immigration control mushroomed from $1.5 billion to $19.5 billion. According to one estimate, Washington spends $5 billion more on border and immigration control than for all other federal law enforcement combined.

And the result? Hundreds of miles of metal barriers have gone up. Technologies initially developed for the military have been adapted for border enforcement. A fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft have been deployed to monitor from the air. Thousands of new agents have been hired. The size of the Border Patrol doubled in the 1990s and has more than doubled again since the beginning of the century, from about 4,000 personnel to more than 21,000.


27 posted on 07/15/2017 11:05:24 AM PDT by Cen-Tejas
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To: hoosiermama

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Reservation

The Roosevelt Reservation is a 60-foot (18 m) strip of land on the United States side of the United States-Mexico Border under the jurisdiction of the United States Federal Government. It was established in a 1907 Presidential Proclamation (35 Stat. 2136) by Theodore Roosevelt in order to keep the land “free from obstruction as a protection against the smuggling of goods between the United States and Mexico”.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/450y-1

“Provided, That nothing in sections 450y to 450y–4 of this title shall be construed to authorize any recreational or other development by the National Park Service within the sixty-foot strip north of the international boundary between the United States and Mexico withdrawn by proclamation of the President dated May 27, 1907 (35 Stat., part II, p. 2136), unless such development has received the prior approval of the Secretary of State.”

I’m sure the govt. will work with the Texicans over their Big Bend park. But you’re right, fellow Hoosier: just as homeowners are surprised to learn that local govt. reserves an easement on a small strip of their front yard abutting the street for utilities, road widening, etc., the federal gov. can do this thang and in fact is constitutionally required to do so: to `repel invasion’.

The statute made it clear the US reserved 60 feet on the border for the express purpose of keeping the land “free from obstruction as a protection against the smuggling of goods between the United States and Mexico”.

Teddy “No Hyphenated Americans!” Roosevelt prolly never contemplated this state of affairs and must be spinning in his grave over the US policy of `salutary neglect’ toward decades of invasion of our country by foreign nationals, our Cousin Eddies to the south and others, and assumed we would never let things get as bad as they have gotten.
Go Trump. Win win win.


28 posted on 07/15/2017 11:05:49 AM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives)
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To: Thibodeaux

patience, patience...... when there is an FBI director, all hell will break loose.

The DOJ requires a fully functioning FBI.

The new FBI Director will have to fire a lot of deep state thugs from upper tiers to Obama’s newer affirmative action hires thugs, who hate America.

Wonder how many Muslim prayer rooms and rugs are in the CIA/FBI headquarters and field offices?


29 posted on 07/15/2017 11:26:17 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Voting for Trump to be our President, made 62+ million of us into Deplorable Colluders, MAGA!)
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To: Cen-Tejas

Thanks for this feed back:

“And the result? Hundreds of miles of metal barriers have gone up. Technologies initially developed for the military have been adapted for border enforcement. A fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft have been deployed to monitor from the air. Thousands of new agents have been hired. The size of the Border Patrol doubled in the 1990s and has more than doubled again since the beginning of the century, from about 4,000 personnel to more than 21,000.”

The best new things are a POTUS wanting to stop illegal immigration and the head dogs at ICE allowing their people to do their jobs.


30 posted on 07/15/2017 11:29:28 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Voting for Trump to be our President, made 62+ million of us into Deplorable Colluders, MAGA!)
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To: Disestablishmentarian

“How do you know that Sessions hasn’t convened a Federal Grand Jury, meeting in secret, which will come out with all the indictments we so desperately want?”

I don’t, but from every public “outing” Sessions has had, I see nothing but weak old man who looks to be incapable of doing the job. I look forward to you being right, because replacing Sessions would not be fun, but if he’s not really going to be effective, line McConnell and Ryan, he needs to find something else to do with what’s left of his life.


31 posted on 07/15/2017 11:59:17 AM PDT by vette6387
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To: vette6387

It is extremely important that a U.S. Attorney General have a competent FBI Director in place before taking strong investigative and enforcement actions. The swamp is far wider and far deeper than anyone imagined.


32 posted on 07/17/2017 11:50:36 AM PDT by houeto
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To: davikkm

I’ve been to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge many times. There is already a levee and a canal that runs through the Refuge a few feet south of the Visitor Center. The government could put a wall on top of that levee leaving an opening for visitors to head to Refuge trails and a gate for tram tours and maintenance vehicles to head south of the levee.

I have seen Border Patrol vehicles in the Visitor Center parking lot on several occasions. The Refuge land extends to the Rio Grande.


33 posted on 07/17/2017 12:11:38 PM PDT by rustbucket
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To: davikkm

Executive Order: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements

EXECUTIVE ORDER

- - - - - - -

BORDER SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT IMPROVEMENTS

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) (INA), the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-367) (Secure Fence Act), and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-208 Div. C) (IIRIRA), and in order to ensure the safety and territorial integrity of the United States as well as to ensure that the Nation's immigration laws are faithfully executed, I hereby order as follows:

Section 1.  Purpose.  Border security is critically important to the national security of the United States.  Aliens who illegally enter the United States without inspection or admission present a significant threat to national security and public safety.  Such aliens have not been identified or inspected by Federal immigration officers to determine their admissibility to the United States.  The recent surge of illegal immigration at the southern border with Mexico has placed a significant strain on Federal resources and overwhelmed agencies charged with border security and immigration enforcement, as well as the local communities into which many of the aliens are placed.

Transnational criminal organizations operate sophisticated drug- and human-trafficking networks and smuggling operations on both sides of the southern border, contributing to a significant increase in violent crime and United States deaths from dangerous drugs.  Among those who illegally enter are those who seek to harm Americans through acts of terror or criminal conduct.  Continued illegal immigration presents a clear and present danger to the interests of the United States.

Federal immigration law both imposes the responsibility and provides the means for the Federal Government, in cooperation with border States, to secure the Nation's southern border.  Although Federal immigration law provides a robust framework for Federal-State partnership in enforcing our immigration laws - and the Congress has authorized and provided appropriations to secure our borders - the Federal Government has failed to discharge this basic sovereign responsibility.  The purpose of this order is to direct executive departments and agencies (agencies) to deploy all lawful means to secure the Nation's southern border, to prevent further illegal immigration into the United States, and to repatriate illegal aliens swiftly, consistently, and humanely.

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of the executive branch to:

(a)  secure the southern border of the United States through the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border, monitored and supported by adequate personnel so as to prevent illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, and acts of terrorism;

(b)  detain individuals apprehended on suspicion of violating Federal or State law, including Federal immigration law, pending further proceedings regarding those violations;

(c)  expedite determinations of apprehended individuals' claims of eligibility to remain in the United States;

(d)  remove promptly those individuals whose legal claims to remain in the United States have been lawfully rejected, after any appropriate civil or criminal sanctions have been imposed; 

(e)  cooperate fully with States and local law enforcement in enacting Federal-State partnerships to enforce Federal immigration priorities, as well as State monitoring and detention programs that are consistent with Federal law and do not undermine Federal immigration priorities.

Sec. 3.  Definitions.  (a)  "Asylum officer" has the meaning given the term in section 235(b)(1)(E) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)).

(b)  "Southern border" shall mean the contiguous land border between the United States and Mexico, including all points of entry.

(c)  "Border States" shall mean the States of the United States immediately adjacent to the contiguous land border between the United States and Mexico.

(d)  Except as otherwise noted, "the Secretary" shall refer to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

(e)  "Wall" shall mean a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous, and impassable physical barrier.

(f)  "Executive department" shall have the meaning given in section 101 of title 5, United States Code.

(g)  "Regulations" shall mean any and all Federal rules, regulations, and directives lawfully promulgated by agencies.

(h)  "Operational control" shall mean the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.

Sec. 4.  Physical Security of the Southern Border of the United States.  The Secretary shall immediately take the following steps to obtain complete operational control, as determined by the Secretary, of the southern border:

(a)  In accordance with existing law, including the Secure Fence Act and IIRIRA, take all appropriate steps to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the southern border, using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve complete operational control of the southern border;

(b)  Identify and, to the extent permitted by law, allocate all sources of Federal funds for the planning, designing, and constructing of a physical wall along the southern border;

(c)  Project and develop long-term funding requirements for the wall, including preparing Congressional budget requests for the current and upcoming fiscal years; and

(d)  Produce a comprehensive study of the security of the southern border, to be completed within 180 days of this order, that shall include the current state of southern border security, all geophysical and topographical aspects of the southern border, the availability of Federal and State resources necessary to achieve complete operational control of the southern border, and a strategy to obtain and maintain complete operational control of the southern border.

Sec. 5.  Detention Facilities.  (a)  The Secretary shall take all appropriate action and allocate all legally available resources to immediately construct, operate, control, or establish contracts to construct, operate, or control facilities to detain aliens at or near the land border with Mexico.

(b)  The Secretary shall take all appropriate action and allocate all legally available resources to immediately assign asylum officers to immigration detention facilities for the purpose of accepting asylum referrals and conducting credible fear determinations pursuant to section 235(b)(1) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)) and applicable regulations and reasonable fear determinations pursuant to applicable regulations.

(c)  The Attorney General shall take all appropriate action and allocate all legally available resources to immediately assign immigration judges to immigration detention facilities operated or controlled by the Secretary, or operated or controlled pursuant to contract by the Secretary, for the purpose of conducting proceedings authorized under title 8, chapter 12, subchapter II, United States Code.

Sec. 6.  Detention for Illegal Entry.  The Secretary shall immediately take all appropriate actions to ensure the detention of aliens apprehended for violations of immigration law pending the outcome of their removal proceedings or their removal from the country to the extent permitted by law.  The Secretary shall issue new policy guidance to all Department of Homeland Security personnel regarding the appropriate and consistent use of lawful detention authority under the INA, including the termination of the practice commonly known as "catch and release," whereby aliens are routinely released in the United States shortly after their apprehension for violations of immigration law.

Sec. 7.  Return to Territory.  The Secretary shall take appropriate action, consistent with the requirements of section 1232 of title 8, United States Code, to ensure that aliens described in section 235(b)(2)(C) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(2)(C)) are returned to the territory from which they came pending a formal removal proceeding.

Sec. 8.  Additional Border Patrol Agents.  Subject to available appropriations, the Secretary, through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall take all appropriate action to hire 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents, and all appropriate action to ensure that such agents enter on duty and are assigned to duty stations as soon as is practicable.

Sec. 9.  Foreign Aid Reporting Requirements.  The head of each executive department and agency shall identify and quantify all sources of direct and indirect Federal aid or assistance to the Government of Mexico on an annual basis over the past five years, including all bilateral and multilateral development aid, economic assistance, humanitarian aid, and military aid.  Within 30 days of the date of this order, the head of each executive department and agency shall submit this information to the Secretary of State.  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall submit to the President a consolidated report reflecting the levels of such aid and assistance that has been provided annually, over each of the past five years.

Sec. 10.  Federal-State Agreements.  It is the policy of the executive branch to empower State and local law enforcement agencies across the country to perform the functions of an immigration officer in the interior of the United States to the maximum extent permitted by law.

(a)  In furtherance of this policy, the Secretary shall immediately take appropriate action to engage with the Governors of the States, as well as local officials, for the purpose of preparing to enter into agreements under section 287(g) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)).

(b)  To the extent permitted by law, and with the consent of State or local officials, as appropriate, the Secretary shall take appropriate action, through agreements under section 287(g) of the INA, or otherwise, to authorize State and local law enforcement officials, as the Secretary determines are qualified and appropriate, to perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States under the direction and the supervision of the Secretary.  Such authorization shall be in addition to, rather than in place of, Federal performance of these duties.

(c)  To the extent permitted by law, the Secretary may structure each agreement under section 287(g) of the INA in the manner that provides the most effective model for enforcing Federal immigration laws and obtaining operational control over the border for that jurisdiction.

Sec. 11.  Parole, Asylum, and Removal.  It is the policy of the executive branch to end the abuse of parole and asylum provisions currently used to prevent the lawful removal of removable aliens.

(a)  The Secretary shall immediately take all appropriate action to ensure that the parole and asylum provisions of Federal immigration law are not illegally exploited to prevent the removal of otherwise removable aliens.

(b)  The Secretary shall take all appropriate action, including by promulgating any appropriate regulations, to ensure that asylum referrals and credible fear determinations pursuant to section 235(b)(1) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1125(b)(1)) and 8 CFR 208.30, and reasonable fear determinations pursuant to 8 CFR 208.31, are conducted in a manner consistent with the plain language of those provisions.

(c)  Pursuant to section 235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(I) of the INA, the Secretary shall take appropriate action to apply, in his sole and unreviewable discretion, the provisions of section 235(b)(1)(A)(i) and (ii) of the INA to the aliens designated under section 235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(II).

(d)  The Secretary shall take appropriate action to ensure that parole authority under section 212(d)(5) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) is exercised only on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the plain language of the statute, and in all circumstances only when an individual demonstrates urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit derived from such parole.

(e)  The Secretary shall take appropriate action to require that all Department of Homeland Security personnel are properly trained on the proper application of section 235 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1232) and section 462(g)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g)(2)), to ensure that unaccompanied alien children are properly processed, receive appropriate care and placement while in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, and, when appropriate, are safely repatriated in accordance with law.

Sec. 12.  Authorization to Enter Federal Lands.  The Secretary, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Interior and any other heads of agencies as necessary, shall take all appropriate action to:

(a)  permit all officers and employees of the United States, as well as all State and local officers as authorized by the Secretary, to have access to all Federal lands as necessary and appropriate to implement this order; and

(b)  enable those officers and employees of the United States, as well as all State and local officers as authorized by the Secretary, to perform such actions on Federal lands as the Secretary deems necessary and appropriate to implement this order.

Sec. 13.  Priority Enforcement.  The Attorney General shall take all appropriate steps to establish prosecution guidelines and allocate appropriate resources to ensure that Federal prosecutors accord a high priority to prosecutions of offenses having a nexus to the southern border.

Sec. 14.  Government Transparency.  The Secretary shall, on a monthly basis and in a publicly available way, report statistical data on aliens apprehended at or near the southern border using a uniform method of reporting by all Department of Homeland Security components, in a format that is easily understandable by the public.

Sec. 15.  Reporting.  Except as otherwise provided in this order, the Secretary, within 90 days of the date of this order, and the Attorney General, within 180 days, shall each submit to the President a report on the progress of the directives contained in this order.

Sec. 16.  Hiring.  The Office of Personnel Management shall take appropriate action as may be necessary to facilitate hiring personnel to implement this order.

Sec. 17.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,
    January 25, 2017.

34 posted on 07/17/2017 12:29:14 PM PDT by deport
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To: deport

Bttt.

5.56mm


35 posted on 07/17/2017 12:31:48 PM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: M Kehoe
Source of Graph

If they get the Southern border under control then maybe they can begin emphasis on the
illegals that come in legally but over stay their visas and don't leave. These are now
a larger number than those crossing illegally on the Southern border, or so I've read.
They come from Asia or the Far East it seems.


Gray line: crossed over southern border
blue line: overstayed visa

36 posted on 07/17/2017 12:54:44 PM PDT by deport
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To: houeto

“It is extremely important that a U.S. Attorney General have a competent FBI Director in place before taking strong investigative and enforcement actions. The swamp is far wider and far deeper than anyone imagined.”

That does not mask the obvious lack of operational control over the DOJ on the part of Sessions. There are any number of actions that don’t have anything to do with the FBI ( or is it the FBM, that’s Federal Bureau of Matters). Sessions is in over his head, or he’s stupid or senile. Any way you slice it, he needs to go now!


37 posted on 07/17/2017 4:10:56 PM PDT by vette6387
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