/Customs and Border Protection/Mani Albrecht
By Rafael Carranza | Arizona Republic
Construction to replace outdated border barriers with newer, taller bollards paid for using military funds is underway along the Arizona-Mexico border.
Work crews broke ground on Thursday at a two-mile stretch just east of the Lukeville port of entry, about 150 miles southwest of Phoenix. The 30-foot bollard design will replace existing vehicle barriers.
By Friday morning, several workers had already begun to lay the concrete foundation to erect the new barriers. They also had blocked off public access to the area, which is surrounded by the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
The project east of Lukeville is paid for by funds from the U.S. Department of Defense diverted to build border barriers in established drug-smuggling corridors, after President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration at the border in February.
