United States government is moving forward with the construction of its multibillion-dollar US-Mexico border wall, despite the rapidly escalating coronavirus epidemic which threatens to kill thousands of Americans and Mexicans and plunge the country into economic recession.
Early during the week, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced plans to bring up more than 150 miles of the 30ft border wall in Arizona, New Mexico and California, additional to the ongoing construction work at not less than 15 sites across those states including Texas.
The shocking announcement came soon after Donald Trump declared a national emergency, in the midst of mounting criticism about his handling of the coronavirus epidemic which looks likely to cost billions if not trillions of dollars to get to grips with.
Already, there have been 19,500 cases and 260 deaths confirmed in the US, and tens of thousands of sacked workers had applied for unemployment benefits, as a large part of the country implemented lockdowns in efforts to slow the spread.
Even as medical experts and local officials ask citizens and residents to stay at home and observe social distancing, construction crews at multiple sites continue to work, sleep and eat in close quarters with a Customs and Border Protection spokesman saying that “Wall construction has not been affected”.
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Construction of the border wall
Building work continues in many parts of the United States, but for the US-Mexico border wall, skilled welders, engineers and contractors travel from states far north from the border. Along the border, they work together, car-pool, stay at local hotels and motels, and eat together at restaurants over several consecutive days, before travelling back to their families which is a clear health hazard to their health and that of their families.
Trump pledged to build a “big, beautiful wall” along the 2,000-mile southern border (and make Mexico pay for it) as part of a presidential campaign in 2016 permeated by anti-immigration sentiments.
