McALLEN, Texas -- Federal authorities have awarded a $145 million contract to a Texas company to build 6 miles (9.5 kilometers) of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said Friday that SLSCO will begin construction of an 18-foot (5.5-meter) reinforced concrete levee wall in February in the agency's McAllen Station region. The company will also increase the height of existing fences.
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It will be the first section of President Donald Trump's border barriers in the Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings.
The government recently completed construction of a 2-mile (3-kilometer), 30-foot tall (9-meter) section of fencing along the border in California.
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Trump has been ramping up anti-immigration rhetoric heading into Tuesday's midterm elections and has ordered troops to the border to meet a caravan of Central American migrants slowly traveling through Mexico.